Govt, Smeda committed to empowering women entrepreneurs

LAHORE: Speakers at a programme said that the government and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) are committed to empowering women entrepreneurs with professional skills in the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) sector of the country.

They said it during an awareness seminar organized by Women Entrepreneurs Development Cell (WEDC) of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (Smeda) at Aiwan-e-Iqbal Complex here on Friday. The SME sector has become highly conducive for women entrepreneurs after the advent of the e-commerce facilities nowadays.

WEDC deputy general manager Tania Buttar,  Policy and Planning Division manager Muhammad Raza, Business and Services Development manager Muhammad Asif and Smeda Financial Services Department Assistant Manager Usman Tariq.
WEDC deputy general manager (DGM) and Women Entrepreneurship Department head Tania Buttar said that the government and top management of Smeda is committed to enhance the economic empowerment of women in the SME sector. She said that however, the Covid-19 pandemic has made e-commerce an integral part of businesses in the time of maintaining social distancing. She said that Smeda has already launched a series of training programmes to impart and groom e-commerce skills in the SME sector.

Meanwhile, Smeda chief executive officer Hashim Raza assured that all-out efforts are being made to empower women through SME development programmes. He said that Smeda has set up an exclusive “Women Business Development Cell” to carry out business awareness and development activities across the country to promote the women-based business startups and businesses already being run by them. He said that women entrepreneurs are increasing day by day and this credit goes to strenuous efforts of the Smeda.

Speaking about the SMEs’ access to finance, he lauded the services of the State Bank of Pakistan governor to introduce easy and collateral free credit facilities to SMEs.

During the question-answer session, the women entrepreneurs  who were participating in the event asked for organizing more awareness sessions on Smeda services regarding women so that more women can make a full use of such services.