KOHAT: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa minister for local government and higher education Meena Khan Afridi, accompanied by the provincial minister for information and public relations Shafi Jan, on Friday inaugurated a Women Business Development Centre in Kohat.

The centre, built at a cost of Rs338.053 million, is meant aiming to strengthen women’s economic participation through entrepreneurship and skills development.

The centre is designed to provide women with vocational, business and digital skills training, enabling them to start businesses, improve their livelihoods and access sustainable income-generating opportunities.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by the Kohat District Development Advisory Committee chairman Daud Shah Afridi, MPA, local government secretary Zafar-ul-Islam, deputy commissioner Kohat Muhammad Nawaz Wazir, Water and Sanitation Services Company Kohat (WSSC) chief executive Saad Qureshi, Kohat Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Rasheed Ahmad Paracha, government officials, business representatives, local elders and a large number of women.

Addressing the ceremony, Meena Khan Afridi said sustainable development could not be achieved without the economic participation of women, noting that women make up 52 pc of Pakistan’s population and play a vital role in national development and economic growth.

He said the provincial government was pursuing measures to equip women with marketable skills, expand entrepreneurship opportunities and encourage self-employment.

Information minister Shafi Jan said women’s economic empowerment remained a priority of the provincial government, describing the new facility as a practical step towards that objective.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2026