KARACHI, Feb 14: Speakers at a seminar on Saturday stressed that a country cannot progress in the real sense of the word, if half its population is denied equal opportunities and kept out of the economic process.
Speaking at a seminar on " Women entrepreneurs a must for economic development " organized by the Pakistan Federation of Professional Women Organization, they said that whenever women have been given equal opportunities they have proved time and again that they are as competent as their male counterparts in all fields.
They said that though religion and constitution guaranteed that they there would be no discrimination on the basis of gender, women owing to deep-rooted socio-cultural traditions are not given equal rights in many fields.
They said that the Pakistan is a signatory to various international agreements including the Convention on Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) and the government is bound to formulate its laws in conformity with its international commitment, but very little work had been done in that direction.
The Switzerland-based president of International Federation of Business and Professional Women, Dr Antoinette Ruegg, who was the chief guest, said that women all over the world, more so in developing countries having traditional societies, will have to struggle hard to get their due rights.
She urged women to get proper training in their preferred business or trade so that they could compete in a cut throat and highly competitive market economy.
She pointed out that exploring foreign markets was essential to expand business in a world that has been transformed into a global village.
She informed them that IFBP was organizing an international congress at Luzern, Switzerland in June 2005, and if they could attend it, they would have an excellent opportunity to meet businesswomen and businessmen from all over the world as well as providing them a ideal opportunity in establishing global networking which was very necessary for business expansion.
She also invited women entrepreneurs to approach the organization in case they needed any kind of assistance in approaching and contacting the business houses in Switzerland.
First Women Bank president Zarin Aziz, speaking on the occasion specified that the bank was focusing on providing financial assistance to women, particularly those belonging to the lower and lower middle class. She said that besides financial assistance, the bank was also providing skill development training to women who intend to start new businesses.
She explained that thousands of women after receiving training and funds from the bank had started their own businesses and were now running their enterprises successfully and playing their role in improving the economy of their families and, in the process, of the country. This economic empowerment has also increased their role in decision making in their respective families.
She outlined the fact that various rural support programmes were being implemented in the country but the major borrowers were men raging between 91 per cent to 77 per cent where as 76 per cent of the FWB borrowers were women.
She said that 79 per cent of the bank loans were in micro credit category, while 21 per cent loans were in small and medium size, while only 0.1 per cent loans were corporate category.
She said that bank, which is totally managed and run by women bankers, has progressed rapidly since December 2000 and the year 2003 and its deposits have increased from Rs 3.4 billion to Rs 8.1 billion (reflecting a growth of 138 per cent); advances have enhanced from Rs 604 million to Rs 1.3 billion (growth 117 per cent); profits have increased from Rs 26 million to Rs 262 million (growth 908 per cent), and the net equity has increased from Rs 110 million to Rs 598 million (growth 444 per cent). Entire loss of Rs 139 million has been wiped off, Ms Aziz concluded.
FWB founder and former president Akram Khatoon, also urged women, who intend to start new businesses but do not have the skills, to approach the bank which was offering various training and skill developing programmes at its training centres. She said that even training in business related laws was being provided so that they could run their business and even handle their tax issues carefully and confidently.
PFBPWO chief Begum Salima R. Ahmad, Mumtaz Alavi and others also spoke at the function. Later, visiting IBPW chief Dr Antoinette Ruegg inaugurated a spring carnival that was being held in connection with the golden jubilee celebrations of the establishment of PFBPWO, which was established 50 years back and had been trying to assist the women.