Women-led SMEs in Pakistan: Need of the hour
E-commerce has always been a fairly dormant field of business in Pakistan.
The impact of digital representation can exponentially increase the Pakistani economy by manifolds. Facts and figures alone paint a very promising image for the nation’s economy.
According to the State Bank of Pakistan, the E-commerce sector of the country has witnessed a whopping growth of 78.9 pc in volume and 33.3 pc in value in the fiscal year of 2020.
With this boost in online-based revenue, one begs to wonder the current state of women led SMEs as well.
With this thought in mind, there is a need to observe the government’s progress in this regard through the gender lens.
Needless to say, the government has taken a plethora of steps in this direction and has started working to introduce specialized credits for women led SMEs.
The government is helping to empower women leading small and medium enterprises through a new SME policy.
According to the government, this policy could provide firms with provisions that can help highlight women-based incentives in many women-led businesses.
This could effectively abridge the prevalent gender gap in Pakistan and could also decrease the financial exclusion for women, helping them become more financially independent and run their businesses without any hassle.
The government has also been working in arranging and organizing workshops and sessions to help empower women and bring forth the entrepreneur within them.
These workshops and events really help women to meet and discover strong female role models that help them give a boost in confidence.
This also helps many women to realize their financial rights, which they were never aware of due to a very stringent and a stereotypical Pakistani society.
One such example of a session was the “Introduction to Productivity Journey and SMEs Fund for Business Recovery and Resilience for Covid-19 Affected SMEs”.
The government has placed special emphasis on productivity enhancement and competitiveness of SMEs in the local and global market to help achieve sustainable development in the country even in a post pandemic Pakistan.
The COVID stricken economy has left many women with no financial support on the cusp of poverty, starvation and grief.
With enhanced productivity and competitive prices, many women can look forward to become self-sufficient.
The incumbent PTI regime has also been looking to allot land to SMEs on lease. Prime Minister Imran Khan has been greatly emphasizing on focusing the lending scheme for IT and garment and textile businesses.
As these businesses encompass a large female representation, the government through TUSDEC, NPO and SMEDA is trying to facilitate women entrepreneurs so they can excel in their preferred fields.
The government has also taken effective steps to help support female entrepreneurs within the capital by allowing them to sell their products at Lok Virsa.
This not only guarantees them a solid opportunity to help them earn but also provides them security where they can do their businesses without dealing with any inconveniences.
Women who cannot afford to set up their businesses there are also guaranteed to be given free stalls after a screening system.
The government is also ready to provide loans to more women entrepreneurs through the Kamyab Jawan and Ehsas Programme.
The government has also started to give high focus on the handicraft industry as well as the handicraft sector in Pakistan is one of the least developed industry from all developing countries making this sector an untapped way of earning holding more potential.
The sector only surmounts a total export of over 200 million dollars, which is the least in all of the developing nations throughout the world.
If the government starts working on this sector with a heavy focus on female entrepreneurs, it will not only boost the country’s GDP but will also help a plethora of women in their path of becoming financially included.
The government should also try to setup offices that could equally distribute the export hubs throughout the country which could make it more accessible for female artisans which could facilitate localized female entrepreneurs as the majority of the exporters for handicrafts are based in Karachi and this has caused the artisans from different parts of the country to go unnoticed and thus in the past, Pakistan has been unable to tap into this vast market of handicrafts.
With so many efforts being made by the government to facilitate financial inclusion for women, the government should also try to implement giving allocated area specifically for women within the Specialized Economic Zones that are being setup within the CPEC.
Disbursement of loans in this area for women entrepreneurs could also help boost the livelihoods of many women throughout the country.
Therefore, the government should look into this matter and try to view the SEZs through the gender lens as well. These efforts will surely uplift the financial state of women within Pakistan.
—The writer is an award-winning journalist, TV anchor and social media influencer.
