PM orders allocation of land

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has ordered allocation of appropriate land for construction of a building for the South Punjab Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SPWCCI).

He also disclosed that necessary funds for the proposed Research and Development Centre had been approved and would be available to the chamber through the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan.

He said this while talking to the president of SPWCCI, Aneela Iftikhar, at the Prime Minister’s Secretariat here on Friday.

The SPWCCI representative briefed the premier on the progress of the chamber since its inception in 2008.

She informed the prime minister that membership of the first Chamber of Commerce and Industry for women entrepreneurs in the country had increased to 150 members across 14 districts of Southern Punjab.

She suggested that in order to encourage women to enter the field of business and commerce, they need to be given loans at a low mark-up and the facility of tax rebates for a certain time period.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 17^th, 2010.