World bodies offer SMEDA collaboration to help women entrepreneurs.

LAHORE -- The International Trade Center's ITC-FCDO Programme, Revenue Mobilization for Investment and Trade (ReMIT), has offered collaboration to the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) to develop a separate SME policy for women entrepreneurs in Pakistan.

In this regard a four-member technical team of ReMIT, headed by Hamid Ateeque Sarwar, visited SMEDA Head Office here Monday to discuss the scope of collaboration. The meeting was also attended by Asim Javaid Hashmi, Managing Director Punjab Small Industries Corporation (PSIC), Dr. Shehla Javaid Akram, Founder President Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, along with a number of other stakeholders. The SMEDA team was headed by Socrat Aman Rana, General Manager Central Support.

The meeting observed that while male labour force participation hovers at 67.9 per cent, the figure for women is a dismal 21.4 per cent. Of these, merely 19 per cent are self-employed or own-account workers, and an almost negligible 0.1 per cent are employers. With approximately 3.22 million women entrepreneurs in the country, the women entrepreneurship ratio is alarmingly low.

The ReMIT team was informed that SMEDA, with the support and guidance of the Ministry of Industries and Production (MoIP), had developed a National SME Policy 2021 along with its action plan that provides a comprehensive roadmap for development and promotion of SMEs across Pakistan. Recognising the pivotal role of women in economic activities, the SME Policy features a dedicated section on women entrepreneurship development, and in line with the National SME Policy 2021, MoIP had constituted and notified a Consultative Group on Supporting...