Experts have agreed that female participation has become even more vital after the spread of Covid-19 and the country should assess impact of the pandemic on women-led business ventures.
Addressing a seminar titled ‘Challenges of women-led exporting enterprises amid Covid-19’, organised by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) on Thursday, the speakers were of the view that voices of women needed to be ensured and strengthened at key business forums.
State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Joint Director Muhammad Adeel stressed that information regarding incentives for women-led enterprises should be widely disseminated by public and private forums.
“There is a misconception that approaching banks to secure loans is a cumbersome procedure and this needs to be removed now,” he said.
The official added that SBP had conducted a few sessions in women chambers of commerce and it looked forward to conducting more seminars to enhance dissemination of information related to export finance schemes.
State Bank of Pakistan Additional Director Imran Ahmed said that the government had already informed the banks that 25% of loans initiated during Covid-19 should go to women.
He pointed out that commercial banks had also been asked for deferment of loan payments.
“To facilitate digital needs of the women-led businesses, SBP has introduced a refinance scheme as well,” he said. On the occasion, SDPI Joint Executive Director Dr Vaqar Ahmed stated that voices of women-led exporters in major business associations and chambers of commerce seemed to be missing.
He emphasised upon the need to evaluate whether women-specific schemes introduced by the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan were able to deliver the desired results or not.
“It is unfortunate that amid difficult times posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, banks are demanding higher mark-up and service charges than what is allowed by the SBP,” he said. “It is also unfortunate that even business associations and chambers of commerce have not reached out to women exporters and addressed their concerns.”
As global lockdowns are being lifted and countries have begun resuming trade in large volumes, women-led enterprises in Pakistan will require financial support and technical guidance to approach foreign buyers, he concluded. Lel Collection Founder Farhana Asad was of the view that women-led businesses needed help to sustain their workforce and prevent layoffs.
“Moreover, such businesses need interest-free loans and grants to bear the shocks of the pandemic,” she added. Leather sector expert Mehek Humayun added that high customs duties were hindering business activities in the leather sector.
Highlighting that import of inputs from abroad was still expensive, she called upon the government to observe how other countries were assisting women-led enterprises to sustain amid Covid-19.
Center for Private Sector Engagement Head Ahad Nazir informed the participants that a few women professionals in IT sector had been able to export IT services.
“However, we need to reach out and assess their needs to enable them to expand their businesses,” he added.
He added that technical and vocational education institutions should have programs to help develop various skills of women and women-led enterprises.
For example, amid Covid-19, women need to learn how to shift their operations online, he said.
SDPI official Mahnoor Arshad highlighted that policy facilitation was needed to reduce information and networking costs faced by women enterprises.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 9th, 2020.
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