Karachi: Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI), Wednesday, launched the inaugural ‘Home to Hub’ initiative to encourage participation of women entrepreneurs in export oriented sectors.
President FPCCI, Atif Ikram Sheikh, in a statement issued here, informed that the inaugural event marked the formal beginning of a structured journey designed to transform Pakistan’s women entrepreneurs from home-based beginners to export-ready business leaders.
The ice-breaking event gathered a carefully curated mix of established and emerging women entrepreneurs, university students, senior business mentors, and finance representatives.
FPCCI president thanked the key institutional partners; including, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA), the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), the Trade Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), and the Pakistan Single Window (PSW) for providing actionable insights on business planning, funding opportunities, and global export facilitation to the women entrepreneurs.
Patron-in-Chief, United Businessmen Group, S. M. Tanveer, underscored the macroeconomic importance of the Home to Hub initiative and said that transition from informal, home-based setups to structured, scalable hubs is vital. Providing women with the structural support to navigate this journey ensures their long-term integration into the mainstream commercial sector, he added.
SVP FPCCI, Saquib Fayyaz Magoon, said that our focus is to ensure that emerging women entrepreneurs are not operating in isolation. Through structured networking, access to finance, and dedicated facilitation, FPCCI is committed to bridging the gap between local innovation and global supply chains, he said.
VP FPCCI and Regional Chairman Sindh, Abdul Mohamin Khan, explained that the Home to Hub framework was engineered to achieve six core outcomes for its participants; i.e. inspire, inform, connect, classify, register, and validate.
VP FPCCI, Qurrat ul Ain, emphasized the apex body’s foundational role in female economic empowerment, saying that FPCCI is a key supportive platform for Women Entrepreneurs. By formalizing these enterprises and providing them with direct pathways to international markets, we are driving critical, inclusive economic growth for the nation, she added.
The initiative was spearheaded and organized by FPCCI’s consultant on Women Entrepreneurs Affairs (Sindh Region), Naheed Masud. Concluding the event and outlining the way forward, she noted that the inaugural event presented the program roadmap.
She said that participants will be classified into sector-specific clusters- such as IT and Digital, Fashion and Textiles, and Health and Nutrition- and then registered into a digital database to provide customized mentorship and targeted access to finance.