Three premier institutions has launched a nationwide campaign to raise awareness among Pakistani women about soft loans, projects and future cooperation. The three institutions include the Federation of Pakistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Information Technology Board (KP-ITB). In this connection, a training session was organized for women in the regional office of FPCCI, which was attended by various officials and industry leaders.

The attendees included Regional Coordinator, FPCCI, Sartaj Ahmad Khan; Senior Officer SBP, Abdullah Afridi; Secretary KP-ITB, Mohammad Khalid; Managing Director KP-ITB; representatives of the Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSE) and women entrepreneurs. During the session, participating women were given detailed presentations on different aspects of the ‘SBP Banking on Equity Awareness Session for Women led Businesses’ and ‘PM Youth Loan.’

The participating women were informed that easy loan facilities under the youth loan program could help them increase the scope of their businesses. SBP representative Abdullah Afridi said that SBP was pursuing the policy of increasing the representation of women in all segments of society, including business and entrepreneurship.

He said that following the lead of the SBP, commercial banks had also started to hire more women in their workforce to increase their representation. He continued, “we have launched a financial scheme under the directives of the government to make sure that women are helped in their businesses.”

“Financial institutions of the country are offering soft loans worth millions to help the women get their businesses off the ground. It is extremely essential that this opportunity is fully utilized by the women entrepreneurs,” he said. Women entrepreneurs were also educated on the stock exchange and told how they could put their share in it and take advantage of innovations in the financial world.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-WealthPk