Monitoring Desk
JALALABAD: Around 13,000 women are engaged in business in addition to leading some small companies in Nangarhar province, officials say.
However, women complain the carpet-weaving and handicraft industry has shrunken considerably. They demand all sorts of facilities, including business support.
Businesswomen grumble a market is yet to be found for their handicrafts. As a consequence, they argue, progress in developing the industry has been stymied.
Women Affairs Director Anisa Imrani said some women were leading their business affairs and attracting financial support and cooperation from donors.
She said: “Almost 1,000 women are engaged in weaving carpets and 2,000 making carpets threads. Others are leading small companies, making curtains and blankets for children.” The official acknowledged the inadequacy of work done for supporting businesswomen. She underlined the need for more effective measures to strengthen women’s role in business.
Imrani announced establishing a marketplace for women in the Bibi Saira Park to boost women’s businesses in Jalalabad the provincial capital. The project will be inaugurated soon.
“We are pleased, but not fully satisfied, with recent changes in the political and socio-economic fields for women. But we are determined to get women involved in factories as well,” she remarked.
Some women had boosted their own incomes besides paving the ground for others to find work by setting small businesses in the province, the director explained.
Sharifa Ahmazai, who established a carpet-weaving facility some years back, claimed offering jobs to about 3,000 women.
She sought more facilities for women to bolster their businesses in a province where there were limited opportunities for females.
“When I was starting my business, I had no money. But I borrowed 200,000 Pakistani rupees from Ariana and now I have a good business, with branches in Maidan Wardak and Kandahar,”
Nangarhar Chamber of Commerce and Industry head, Sher Alam Amlawal said there were same facilities for men and women within the government framework. Women could invest in different fields.
A few days ago, a special department was inaugurated to promote the businesses run by women.
