IBA and CLICK to study challenges of women-run businesses in Karachi

KARACHI: The Institute of Business Administration’s (IBA) Centre for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) and the Sindh Investment Department (SID) have signed an agreement for conducting a study on the constraints being faced by businesses in Karachi owned and managed by women.

Dr S Akbar Zaidi, executive director of IBA Karachi, and Anwar Ali Shar, project director of SID’s Competitive & Livable City of Karachi (CLICK), signed the agreement. Dr Zaidi highlighted the importance of the project and its benefits for improving policies to increase participation of women in business activities. He also introduced the IBA project team.

It is led by Dr Lalarukh Ejaz, CED director and School of Business Studies (SBS) assistant professor. The team members are Dr Khadija Bari, Population Research Centre director and School of Economics & Social Sciences associate professor, Dr Farah Naz, SBS chairperson and assistant professor, and Azad Ahmed, CED manager.

Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar, special assistant to the chief minister on investment and public-private projects, highlighted that strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem is one of the priority areas of the Sindh government.

He hoped that this research project would help improve the regulatory framework in the province and increase the ease of doing business, especially for women. Shar shared that this is a World Bank-sponsored research project under CLICK, and it would help policy-makers address the prevailing challenges of businesses in Karachi owned and managed by women.

Dr Ejaz thanked SID and CLICK for the opportunity and presented the project plan, its background, objectives, methodology, contribution, and the impact the study promises. The event was also attended by Syed Mansoor Abbas Rizvi, SID secretary, and other distinguished guests from SID and IBA Karachi.