LAHORE, June 21: The post budget meeting of the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry was held on Wednesday at its Aiwan-i-Tijarat office.

The meeting presided over by Dr Shehla Javed Akram was part of the monthly agenda-based curriculum presented to its members. Attended by more than 30 women entrepreneurs, the meeting discussed the WCCI’s previous month projects and formulated next month’s schedule.

Most of the women entrepreneurs were skilled in embroidery, ran small textile businesses, a few were IT experts and some ran small schools for underprivileged and divorced women while the rest were being carefully guided by the WCCI to find a commercial niche for themselves.

Through its micro-credit schemes of granting non-collateral loans of up to Rs500,000, the WCCI has made a substantial difference to the lives of some if not every woman. The loans are part of a special grant programme with the Punjab banks for which the WCCI has lobbied rigorously.

“In this particular meeting we are organizing to set up a week-long exhibition of member entrepreneurs in Murree where they can display their work.

With help from the Punjab government, WCCI members interested in logging on to foreign importers will be able to get a trade map for which a day training course is organised at the Lahore Chamber of Commerce,” comments Ms Shehla Akram.

The referred course of surfing on the net for potential foreign buyers originally costs Rs30,000 but the WCCI has ensured that the availability to its members is free of cost.

“We are also arranging to teach basic computer skills to housewives turned entrepreneurs who are still not computer-familiar,” explains Ms Akram.