ISLAMABAD: A large number of women entrepreneurs and home-based artisans have gathered in Pakistan’s federal capital to participate in the colorful two-day Islamabad Women Gala 2024, which is scheduled to conclude later today on Sunday evening.
The festival, which began the day after International Women’s Day, is organized to honor female workers who frequently face challenges in pursuing their professional aspirations and earning livelihoods for their families due to social constraints.
Hundreds of families were drawn to Lok Virsa on Saturday, where an assortment of garments, paintings, candles, jewelry, and furniture was displayed.
Speaking to Arab News, women entrepreneurs maintained the event provided a valuable platform to broaden their customer base.
“These events are very important when you are a woman entrepreneur and you are working from home,” Amber Fatima, a print designer, said. “The thing is that you get to know your market when you go to such type of exhibitions. You understand the customers, you understand what pricing you should be doing.”
Many participants, running small businesses, highlighted their reliance on online platforms for marketing.
“I don’t have a team, I don’t have a warehouse,” Maryam Ashraf, who sells candles and clothes, informed while describing the handling of her online presence as the biggest challenge.
However, she expressed satisfaction with her festival participation, which significantly boosted her customer outreach.
The gala features over 130 vibrant stalls managed by women entrepreneurs from diverse ages and economic backgrounds.
Some, like Aliya Ahsan, a former educator, embarked on entrepreneurship after leaving previous jobs or retiring.
“I learned this [candle-making] online during the coronavirus pandemic,” she told Arab News. “And I’m feeling very happy that I’m not wasting time.”
“Children have grown up,” she continued, “so now I feel that I have time and I should not waste it.”
According to Kaarandaz, a Pakistani non-profit organization, over 50 percent of women-led businesses are unregistered and face the growth and scaling challenges.
The 2022 Global Gender Report also reveals that women suffer from economic under-participation, and only 4.5 percent of them can be seen in the top corporate or legislative roles in Pakistan.
Many participants of the festival said they enjoyed running a small business as it made them financially independent and gave them an identity.
“The advantage of setting up business is that you become independent,” said Saeeda Tasleem who is in the garment business for 25 years. “You can buy anything of your own choice.”
Two-day festival celebrates women’s entrepreneurship in Pakistan amid economic inclusion challenges
https://arab.news/vfg6b
Two-day festival celebrates women’s entrepreneurship in Pakistan amid economic inclusion challenges
- The festival began a day after International Women’s Day to honor female workers earning livelihoods for their families
- Islamabad Women Gala 2024 has brought together home-based artisans who mostly rely on online marketing to sell products
UK says Pakistan regulatory overhaul to yield £1 billion a year as Islamabad launches reform drive
- Britain says it worked with Pakistan on 472 proposed reforms to streamline business rules across key sectors
- PM Shehbaz Sharif says Pakistan has stabilized economy and now aims to attract investment by cutting red tape
ISLAMABAD: Britain’s development minister Jenny Chapman said on Saturday Pakistan’s sweeping new regulatory overhaul could generate economic gains of nearly £1 billion a year, as Islamabad formally launched the reform package aimed at cutting red tape and attracting foreign investment.
The initiative, driven by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s government and the Board of Investment, aims to introduce legislative changes and procedural reforms designed to streamline approvals, digitize documentation and remove outdated business regulations.
Chapman said the UK had worked with Pakistan on 472 reform proposals as part of its support to help the country shift from economic stabilization to sustained growth.
“These reforms will break down barriers to investment, eliminate more than 600,000 paper documents, and save over 23,000 hours of labor every year for commercial approvals,” Chapman said at the launch ceremony in the presence of Sharif and his team. “The first two packages alone could have an economic impact of up to 300 billion Pakistani rupees annually — nearly one billion pounds — with more benefits to come.”
Addressing the ceremony, the prime minister said the reforms were central to Pakistan’s effort to rebuild investor confidence after the country narrowly avoided financial default in recent years.
“Our economy was in a very difficult situation when we took office,” he said. “But we did not lose hope, and today Pakistan is economically out of the woods. Now we are focused on growing our economy and attracting foreign investment.”
He described the new regulatory framework as a “quantum jump” that would reduce corruption, speed up approvals and remove longstanding procedural hurdles that have discouraged businesses.
Chapman told the audience that more than 200 British companies operate in Pakistan, with the largest six contributing around one percent of Pakistan’s GDP.
She said the UK saw Pakistan as a partner rather than a recipient of aid.
“Modern partners work together not as donors but as investors, bringing all our strengths to the table,” she said, adding that the reforms would make Pakistani exports more competitive and encourage UK firms to expand their footprint.
Sharif highlighted the role of the British Pakistani diaspora and said Pakistan hoped to unlock more private capital by engaging diaspora entrepreneurs and financial institutions in the UK.
