PM Deuba Mulls Women Participation for Socio-Economic Development

September 12, 2017

Various women entrepreneurs and experts from different parts of the world gathered in Kathmandu to take part in the International Business Women’s Summit organized by the South Asia Women Development Forum (SAWDF).

The two-day summit, inaugurated by the Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba yesterday, saw about 80 women entrepreneurs and policy makers from around 18 countries including the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations.

In his inaugural address, Deuba said, “A woman’s becoming economically capable and self-dependent means her entire family is moving towards prosperity. The society and the country itself progress if a family is prosperous. So, it is necessary to invest in women entrepreneurship in this region.”

He also informed about the Government of Nepal’s efforts towards creating a cooperative environment for investment and drawing women into the small and medium enterprises. “We are committed to increasing women’s participation in entrepreneurship too,” he said.

Pramila Acharya Rijal, President of SAWDF said that the main idea behind the event is to create awareness about entrepreneurship among women. “Prospects in tourism, information technology, agriculture and textiles will be explored during the two-day event,” she added.

Pramila expressed hope that this summit would offer a unique opportunity for organizing business meetings with members of the visiting international business delegations from SAARC and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASAN) regions.

SAARC Secretary-General, Amjad Hussain B. Sial pitched on the need for encouraging women to pursue career in the business field for a better socio-economic life.

Renowned Nepali Industrialist Binod Chaudhary said, “Nepali women are far ahead in political sphere, but their participation in industry and business is comparatively less. So, they must be encouraged to join business.”

A Sri Lankan Professor Maithree Wickramasinghe termed backwardness, poverty and lack of education as the major challenges to the South Asian women.