Khyber Pakhtunkhwa pledges Rs50 million fund for women entrepreneurs
The provincial government will set up an endowment fund and a Women Incubation Center after a visit to the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Peshawar.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has announced a Rs50 million endowment fund for the economic development of women entrepreneurs in the province. Finance Advisor Muzammil Aslam made the announcement during a recent visit to the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Peshawar Division, according to ProPakistani.
The package has more than one part. The government will give Rs5 million to upgrade the chamber, which should improve its training and support services for members. It will back an interest rate subsidy on financing schemes the chamber has proposed. It will also set up a Women Incubation Center at the chamber.
The measures follow policy proposals that the chamber put to the government on access to finance and entrepreneurship. The chamber's president, Qurat ul Ain, welcomed the support and thanked Aslam for backing those proposals, ProPakistani reported.
Other chamber figures used the meeting to press their own priorities. Founder President Sajida Zulfiqar pointed to gaps and opportunities in industrial development and in putting existing assets to economic use. Shamama Arbab said women could find openings in food processing and agriculture related businesses and asked for targeted help for them.
What is still unclear
The reports describe a pledge, not a launched scheme. They do not say how the endowment will be managed, who will qualify, how much any one business could receive, or when the incubation centre will open. The interest rate subsidy is also described only in general terms.
Finance is one of the barriers women entrepreneurs most often cite. An endowment can fund support for years, rather than for a single budget cycle, which is why the rules will matter once they are published.
Reported from coverage in ProPakistani and TechJuice.
