Women entrepreneurs showcase start-ups at IBA summit

The Institute of Business Administration (IBA) Aman Center for Entrepreneurial Development (CED) on Wednesday organised a summit titled ‘Unlocking The Power of Women Entrepreneurs’ in collaboration with the Click Sindh Investment Department and IBA’s alumni affairs department at the JS Auditorium, IBA City Campus.

Federal Minister for Poverty Alleviation and Benazir Income Support Programme Chairperson Shazia Marri was the chief guest at the event that was attended by dignitaries from the World Bank, officials of the Sindh investment department and esteemed women entrepreneurs.

Around 300 individuals were present at the summit. In her speech, the federal minister said the government placed tremendous importance on providing a safe and secure environment for the women to step forward and play their role in the economy.

She added that such events played a key role in harnessing productive potential of the female entrepreneurs of Pakistan. Dr S Akbar Zaidi, IBA executive director, in his speech shared his thoughts about the personal and professional role of women in the country.

Aman CED Director Dr Lalarukh Ejaz thanked the chief guest for coming from Islamabad to attend the summit and enriching the audience. She also thanked distinguished panellists saying that they were much-needed role models for women in Pakistan.

She also spoke about how the IBA had changed over the years and several of its centres and departments were now led by women. The summit inculcated a panel session moderated by Dr Saima Husain, Director QEC, IBA Karachi. It included Saeeda Mandviwalla CEO and art director of Toni & Guy and CEO of Sri Lankan Ayurvedic Franchise Spa Ceylon; Misbah Naqvi, co-founder and general partner at i2i Ventures; Nadia Patel Gangjee, founder Sheops and founder and CEO of Femprow; and Tara Uzra Dawood, CEO of Ladies Fund and Pakistan State Oil board member.

Women entrepreneurs from different fields shared their life experiences, struggles and challenges, and talked about what enabled them to become change-makers. A total of 27 female IBA students and alumni showcased their start-ups and businesses at the event, which concluded with remarks of Syed Qasim Naveed Qamar, special assistant to the chief minister on investment, and Syed Mansoor Abbas Rizvi, secretary of the Sindh investment department.

Qamar spoke about the outcome of the CLICK project, saying that it would enable the government and policy planners to take necessary actions for facilitating women’s role in the formal economy.