Empowering women boost GDP ‘by 10%’
Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) vice-president Saeeda Bano has stated that if women receive as many opportunities as the country’s male population, the gross domestic product (GDP) will rise by at least 10%.
The FPCCI, spearheaded by Bano, has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Jinnah University for Women (JUW) in a bid to establish industry-academia linkages for the advancement of academic research to promote industrial development in the country with focus on empowering women.
“The purpose of this initiative is to conduct joint research using equipment and facilities of one another to develop a better understanding and subsequently evaluate as well as create opportunities,” Bano said.
The FPCCI will offer JUW students internships and assist them in industry-based research projects including startups.
She added that the chamber would continue to ink such MoUs with other universities, like the Karachi University, the Dow University, the Greenwich University, and others, to provide opportunities for fresh graduates to explore ideas, startups and look at the larger picture of the economy.
The FPCCI official stressed that Pakistan is in dire need of empowering women as it would help the flagging economy recover and eventually flourish.
Bano, a businesswoman herself, added that Pakistani women had no direct role in exports.
Even Bangladesh has better female representation in exports than Pakistan, at 5-10%.
According to McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) research, $28tn or 26% could be added to the annual global GDP in 2025 if women play a role in labour markets identical to that of men’s.
“The long-term objective of this MoU is to empower women entrepreneurs and nurture female leaders,” Bano said. “This can be achieved by increasing the number of girl students interested in technology, innovation, digitalisation, entrepreneurship and leadership.”
“We will hopefully be doing as much as we can for the cause, but the government should also come forward and do some concrete work in this regard,” she added.
Bano argued that women should be trained properly for an extended period for participation in the economy. “A few days of workshops won’t help much.”
She added that she didn’t think men are to blame for women’s plight in the country’s economy, but it had been women themselves.
“What I have seen is that women don’t support other women who climb the success ladder,” she lamented. “They criticise when they should have been supporting the women walking up the path of success.”