A delegation of women entrepreneurs has left for a ten-day visit to explore the European market, and find ways and means to boost exports.
The delegation is led by the founder president of Islamabad women’s chamber of commerce and industry (IWCCI) Samina Fazil. Other delegates are former IWCCI president Mumtaz Akhter, and Munazza Arif, Shahida Mazhar, Rizwana Atif, Naadia Sami, Saadia Hassan, Anjum Arif and Safina Insaf, a press release stated on Monday.
The team will visit Hungary and Italy to explore potential for unconventional exports. It will also meet the business community, trade officials and diplomats.
Before leaving for Hungary, the business women said that they hoped to promote trade links in areas of common interests and explore avenues for export of ‘made in Pakistan’ items.
“We want to share expertise, learn about new designs and modern skills from their counterparts,” Samina Fazil said, adding that they would also study new trends and requirements of interested clients as there was a great demand of Pakistani products such as handicrafts, jewellery and clothing in Europe.
She said that Europe was Pakistan’s important trading partner accounting for 21.2 per cent of Pakistan’s total exports and 16 per cent of its total imports. Pakistan’s exports to Europe were dominated by textiles and clothing as well as leather products.
“We should also focus on other exportable products to increase our share in the European market and reduce dependence on traditional exports,” she added.
She said that the trade volume between Pakistan and the EU was not much impressive. She expressed that the local business community should explore the European market to exploit its potential to the maximum for which coordinated efforts were needed.
She thanked national business leader SM Muneer for extending every possible support to make their visit a success.
Samina Fazil said that the government should send more business delegations to the Europe. She explained that the delegations could hold exhibitions and use all the methods to raise awareness about Pakistani products.
Pakistan’s business community should look for out of the box solutions and explore Nordic countries, including Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden to boost exports, she added.
