PESHAWAR: The first inter-provincial trade fair showcasing products made by women entrepreneurs from across the country is being held in Peshawar on Saturday (tomorrow).
The Women Business Development Centre (WBDC), a subordinate agency of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Authority (Smeda), is organising the Summer Trade Fair that will offer linkages to the local women entrepreneurs with those coming from Sindh and Punjab.
Briefing reporters about the event on Thursday, Smeda`s provincial chief Javed Khattak said that the objective of this unique show was to help the local women entrepreneurs to develop market linkages. He said that the event would present the soft image of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which was wrongly perceived as a male-dominated society.
Nabeela Farman, WBDC project manager, said that businesswomen from across the province would take part in the event and half of the 40 stalls had been allocated for entrepreneurs coming from Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan, Haripur, Swat and Peshawar.
She said that the two-day fair had been designed to promote the skills of local businesswomen and give them an opportunity to learn from their counterparts of Punjab and Sindh. She said that the participants could also build joint ventures with the visiting businesswomen.
Women development minister Sitara Ayaz will inaugurate the fair on Saturday while Senior Minister Bashir Bilour will be the chief guest at the closing ceremony on Sunday. The event will be open for women and families only.
Answering a question, Ms Farman said that the trade fair would be an opportunity for the local businesswomen to improve quality of their products. She said that 600 entrepreneurs had been registered with the WBDC and they were being given training on business and product development.
Responding to a question, Mr Khattak dispelled the impression that businesswomen in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa lacked the skills to run businesses, saying there were many businesswomen, who had been running big businesses in Peshawar despite security problems.
He, however, said that lack of finances and access to market were the major impediments the women entrepreneurs were facing in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Source: Dawn
Date:6/24/2011
