Women empowerment imperative for country’s progress, prosperity: President


ISLAMABAD, Jan 24 (APP): President Dr Arif Alvi on Wednesday said that empowering women in every field of life was imperative for the progress and development of the country.

Addressing the First LCCI Women Entrepreneurs Recognition Ceremony 2024 held at the Aiwan-e-Sadr, the president eulogized the role of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) in contributing towards the empowerment of the women.

He said the LCCI was the first chamber which had arranged awards for the women entrepreneurs and asked other chambers to follow suit.

He said the LCCI should train and prepare the women in such a way that they can work any where in the world.

The president said the LCCI had also supported various programmes initiated by First Lady Begum Samina Alvi such as awareness campaigns of breast cancer and persons with disabilities.

He said there was a tangible evidence that due to the breast cancer awareness drive, more women were getting early diagnosis of the disease.

He said being a woman, his wife had helped him a lot in politics and other activities.

He said the women in the country often left their professions after getting married which meant they were wasting the country’s resources. Instead of leaving their profession, the women better work shoulder to shoulder with their men counterparts for the development of the country, he added.

Referring to the Israeli atrocities being faced by the Gaza people, the president said that women were the most affected during the crisis.

Earlier the president conferred awards on the women entrepreneurs for their services.

LCCI President Kashif Anwar said unless the government did not give a suitable environment for women, they could not play their due role in trade and investment sectors.

He urged the Ministry of Commerce to provide maximum incentives to the women entrepreneurs for encouraging them to participate in business activities.

He also called upon the government to provide maximum tax subsidies to the women entrepreneurs.

He said the chamber was arranging trainings for the women to enable them sell their products across the world through various e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and Ali Baba.