ICCI excellence awards for women entrepreneur

Islamabad: The Islamabad Chamber of Commerce & Industry (ICCI) organised a Women’s Excellence Awards ceremony to confer awards to high achievers from various fields of life in order to recognise their contribution to the economic development of the country, says a press release.

Mirza Muhammad Afridi, Deputy Chairman Senate was the Chief Guest while Romina Khurshid Alam, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister was the guest of honour. Speaking at the occasion, Mirza Muhammad Afridi, deputy chairman Senate said that women have a key role in the economic development of the country and lauded the ICCI for conferring awards on high achiever women to motivate others. He said that women of tribal areas needed skills development so that they could play a more effective role in national development.

Ahsan Zafar Bakhtawari, president, ICCI said that our women are second to none in terms of talent and ability. He said that many women have excelled in various fields of life and we feel proud over them. He said that Benazir Bhutto had become the first Prime Minister of Pakistan in Muslim World, which was a source of pride for women. He said that Malala Yousafzai, Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy, Dr. Ayesha Jalal, Prof. Dr. Nargis and many other women have earned great laurels for Pakistan. He said that the role Fatima Jinnah is a torchbearer for other women. He said that Hazrat Khadija and Hazrat Fatima are role models for Muslim women and by following their footsteps, Pakistan can be made a model society in the world. He said that women should be provided more opportunities to excel in life. He stressed that the government should make more conducive policies for women for their economic empowerment. He said that ICCI has taken a positive step to recognize those women who have excelled in various fields of life and assured that ICCI would continue to encourage women entrepreneurs so that they could contribute more effectively towards the economic development of the country.

Romina Khurshid Alam, SAPM said that women empowerment makes the nation stronger as when women rise, nations rise. She said that Islam has given women more respect, power and rights. Air Marshal (r) Sohail Aman, former chief of air staff also lauded ICCI for organising an awards ceremony for women and said that women are now playing an important role in the Pakistan Air Force. The Excellence Awards were given to Farrukh Khan, MNA; Kashmala Tariq, Samina Fazal, founder president Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce; Fatma Azeem; former Senior Vice President; ICCI; Sana Mir; cricketer, Samina Khayal Baig, mountaineer; Ayela Majid, first Pakistani Vice President of ACCA; Fauzia

Minallah Environmentalist, Nigar Nazar, cartoonist; Dr. Shazia Akbar, poetess; Anna Faisal, educationist; Dr. Shagufta Jabeen, educationist; Dr. Afshan Malik, educationist; Sobia Mustafa, makeup artist, Sobia Nazir, fashion designer; Atia Liaquat, realtor; Amina Amir, Geo News reporter; Shifa Yousafzai, anchor-person; Amina Baig, SP; Neelam Khalid Chaudhry, entrepreneur; Syeda Tayyaba Kazmi, entrepren-eur; Sonia Azeem Singer & Nadia Qureshi, ICCI.