Pakistan Women Entrepreneurs Network for Trade (WE-NET) conducted an exclusive session for women entrepreneurs from across Pakistan, including Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Hazara, Peshawar and Karachi. The 2-hour session featured Uzma Quresh, Social Development Specialist, World Bank Group, Zahid Latif Khan, President, Rawalpindi Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Reem Abbasi, President, Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Qashif Effendi, CEO, Reem Rice, and others.
Yasmin Hyder, President, Pakistan WE-NET, introduced the network to the audience of women entrepreneurs and detailed its objectives, and recent
achievements. She urged the women entrepreneurs to take advantage of Pakistan WE-NET’s global linkages in order to trade and grow their businesses.
Uzma Quresh spoke about the low rates of female entrepreneurship in Pakistan, and detailed some of the leading constraints of entrepreneurship for women in Pakistan, including lack of access to finance, time scarcity due to household responsibilities, and lack of collateral.
Zahid Latif Khan appreciated the efforts made by Pakistan WE-NET and expressed interest in future collaborations between RCCI and Pakistan WE-NET.
Qashif Effendi gave an interactive presentation on “Branding and Marketing for the Future” which was received with great enthusiasm by the women entrepreneurs who were eager to learn about marketing their products for the international market.
The session provided B2B networking opportunities for women across the country, and provided a platform to discuss the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs engaged in trade. A panel discussion on “Challenges of
Entrepreneurship” featuring Reem Abbasi, President, IWCCI, Farzeen Irtizaz, CEO, House of Raani Emaan and Lubna Farooq, Board Member, WE-NET provided insight into the challenges faced by women in trade.
Pakistan WE-NET was able to add 60 women entrepreneurs from diverse sectors to its database of women led SMEs, and created B2B linkages between women entrepreneurs from a variety of sectors including agricultural products, handicrafts, jewelry, general order suppliers, construction accessories, business consultancy, overseas employment promotion, food and spices, agricultural produce and furniture.