KARACHI: The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) has partnered with Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, to digitally empower 500 women entrepreneurs and other high value small businesses.
A press release issued by Meta said the target would be achieved through providing training and access to resources as well as networking opportunities.
It said the launching ceremony for the initiative, The Digital Bridge: Advancing Financial Inclusion for Pakistan, was held earlier this week in Karachi and attended by officials of the Ministry of Commerce, Women Chambers of Commerce and Industry, and other prominent members of the telecommunication, banking and business community.
Meta said consulting agency Demo will select the new programme participants from Pakistan’s export-oriented chambers as well as the pool of small business owners that participated in the first phase of the SheMeansBusiness curriculum in the country.
SheMeansBusiness was a Meta initiative launched in 2018 in Pakistan in which over 30,000 women across 51 cities, including in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, received training.
The press release said the participants will be “equipped with the tools and techniques needed to succeed in the competitive online landscape and scale their businesses”.
SBO Deputy Governor Sima Kamil said small businesses played a “crucial role” to boost the country’s economy, adding that the central bank was “pleased to support Meta’s initiative to empower more women entrepreneurs and small businesses and help them scale their businesses in Pakistan.
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