SMEDA expands engagement with women chambers to promote entrepreneurship across Pakistan

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has intensified its engagement with women chambers of commerce

LAHORE: The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) has intensified its engagement with women chambers of commerce and industry across Pakistan to promote women-led businesses, strengthen microenterprises and improve access to business support services.

The initiative is part of SMEDA’s broader efforts to encourage women’s participation in economic activity and create a more supportive environment for women entrepreneurs and small businesses. The authority is also focusing on improving access to finance, incentives, skills development, market opportunities and other services required for sustainable business growth.

The engagement is being carried out in line with Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s vision of inclusive economic development, with particular attention to increasing the participation of women and microenterprises in the national economy.

As part of the initiative, SMEDA held consultations with representatives of women chambers from different parts of the country to identify the challenges faced by women-owned enterprises and explore ways to make institutional support more accessible and effective.

The consultation was chaired by SMEDA Board Member Aasia Saail, who stressed the importance of establishing stronger institutional mechanisms for supporting women entrepreneurs.

She said the specific needs and concerns of women-owned businesses should be incorporated into SME development policies and programmes so that support initiatives could respond more effectively to the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.

During the consultation, Aasia Saail also highlighted the proposed development of the Women Entrepreneurship Portal. The dedicated platform is intended to provide women entrepreneurs with easier access to relevant business information, support services and potential business opportunities.

She further highlighted SMEDA’s plans to develop a comprehensive database of women entrepreneurs across the country. The database would help the authority better understand the scale and requirements of women-led businesses and facilitate targeted support in areas such as financing, incentives, training, market linkages and business development services.

According to SMEDA officials, a better understanding of women-owned enterprises would also help in designing interventions based on the actual requirements of entrepreneurs rather than relying on generalised approaches.

Aasia Saail also highlighted SMEDA’s collaboration with national and international organisations, including the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Pakistan Institute of Fashion and Design (PIFD).

These partnerships are aimed at bringing technical assistance, capacity-building programmes, entrepreneurship development initiatives and other forms of business support closer to women entrepreneurs and micro-businesses.

During the consultation, representatives of women chambers shared their experiences and outlined the difficulties faced by women-owned enterprises in different regions.

Key areas of concern included limited access to finance, inadequate business information, difficulties in reaching markets, skills gaps and the need for stronger institutional support.

The representatives also stressed the importance of ensuring that women entrepreneurs have access to practical resources and opportunities that can help them establish, expand and sustain their businesses.

SMEDA officials said the feedback gathered through consultations with women chambers would be taken into consideration while designing future programmes and interventions.

The authority said the objective was to develop more demand-driven and responsive support mechanisms for women entrepreneurs and microenterprises across Pakistan.

The initiative is expected to strengthen coordination between SMEDA and women chambers while creating greater opportunities for women-owned businesses to access finance, training, markets and other services needed for business growth and economic participation.