‘Businesswomen should be given opportunities in CPEC’

Islamabad: Samina Fazil, founder president, Islamabad Women's Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI) on Thursday said China should encourage Pakistani exports to balance trade.

Pakistan is facing a large deficit as bilateral trade between Pakistan and China is heavily tilted towards Beijing, she said.

Talking to Cultural Counselor of Chinese Embassy Heqing Zhang, she said that IWCCI is working for women empowerment and gender equality as sustainable development is impossible without it. "China should relax terms and conditions in the trade agreement to balance the bilateral trade as Pakistan can export large quantities of agricultural products to China," she said.

Samina Fazil said that Pakistan women should be given opportunities in the projects under CPEC while they should also be given the opportunity of getting trained in various disciplines in leading Chinese universities.

Former President of IWCCI Mumtaz Raja was also present in the meeting. She said that both countries should increase the frequency of business and cultural delegations and successful women entrepreneurs from China should visit Pakistan to encourage our women.

At the occasion, Heqing Zhang said that China is promoting women empowerment and the women in his country enjoy all the support of the government.

He said that the proposals to bring businesswomen of both the friendly countries are laudable which would be considered for further action.

Naima Ansari, Samina Akhtar, Sajida Anwar, Rozina, Ammara Ibrar and Gul Rukh were also present in the meeting.