PESHAWAR: Speakers at an exhibition here stressed the need for providing opportunities of business to women so that they could participate in the uplift of rural economy.

The exhibition-cum-workshop was organised by Pakistan Community Support Project (PCSP) to provide a bigger platform to the budding women entrepreneurs from the project’s implementation areas to exhibit their skills and products and connect them with government departments and private institutions.

A statement issued here said that a large number of people from different walks of life attended the event.

Speaking at the event, the director general of sustainable development unit of the planning and development department, Sohail Khan, said that 50 per cent of the global workforce consisted of women. He added that the work being done by them accounted for almost 66 per cent of the total input.

“It is high time that we provide economic and income generation opportunities to the women in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, particularly in the merged areas, so that they can participate in the uplift of rural economy,” he said.

The exhibition was followed by a round of focused group discussions wherein experts interacted with the community members. They discussed as to how the women in the project-specific areas in Khyber, Peshawar and Nowshera districts could be facilitated to play a more active role in raising their household income and contributing to the overall economic development.

The project director, Tillat Fahad, stated that the key objective of the exhibition was to connect the potential women entrepreneurs from Khyber, Peshawar and Nowshera with the officials and experts who could provide them with access to markets, facilities and resources.

“It is highly encouraging to witness such diverse skills and talents on display. That’s what we need to scale up the efforts to turn their potential entrepreneurship into marketable enterprises,” she said.

The discussion focused on securing commitment from the representatives of public and private sector institutions such as Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority and Bank of Khyber to guide, support and facilitate the promising women entrepreneurs from the rural and underdeveloped parts of Khyber, Peshawar and Nowshera.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2022