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Istanbul Forum Convened for Women Entrepreneurs The Istanbul Forum aims at developing the dialogue between Turkey, Afghanistan and Pakistan via bringing together the respective business circles convened for women entrepreneurs.
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04/11/2011 - Viewed 2983 times

ISTANBUL – The sixth meeting of the Istanbul Forum, launched by the Chamber of Unions and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) to develop dialogue between the Afghani and Pakistani business worlds, was held on November 1-2, 2011. The Forum meeting, with the theme “Women’s Entrepreneurship” brought together the presidents of Turkey, Afghanistan, Pakistan, representatives from the business world and women entrepreneurs.

In the context of the Forum, the business world participated in sessions to discuss how to improve women’s entrepreneurship. Abdullah Gül, president of the Republic of Turkey; Asif Ali Zardari, president of Pakistan; and Hamid Karzai, president of Afghanistan, met to talk on securing regional peace. Also, cooperation agreements were signed on a number of issues, including foreign exchange swap, training, joint exercise.

Contribution of women entrepreneurs to growth higher than that of China

Delivering the opening speech, TOBB vice-president Faik Yavuz stressed that according to the The Economist, the contribution of the rise in the participation of women in the economy made a larger contribution than China did to global economic growth. He said, “I am sorry to say that we are not at a point to be proud of in terms of women’s economic status.'' He added that as the TOBB, they had formed women entrepreneurs’ boards throughout Turkey in 2007 to set role models for success and that they aimed to increase the number of board members from the current 1500 to 10,000.

The Afghani Minister of Mines, Wahidullah Shahrani, stated that they wanted to increase the interaction between the women of the three countries and said, “We need to provide more chances and investment opportunities for the development of women’s skills.”  He added that they were working to construct a US $6 billion railroad web that would connect Central Asian countries, that the necessary funds had been raised and that a vast array of infrastructure would be established in three to five years.

Saleem H. Mandviwalla, Chairman of the Board of Investment and Minister of State for Investment of Pakistan, advised the creation of a roof organization in accessing women entrepreneurs to tackle the institutional deficiencies concerning entrepreneurship. Mohammad Akbar Khan, vice-president of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FPCCI) emphasized the importance of gender equality for development.

Concrete cooperation projects like the Islamabad train must continue

Following the opening, a roundtable meeting about women entrepreneurs was held with the moderation of TEPAV Director Güven Sak. Sak maintained that the cooperation between the three countries had been solidified with concrete projects and meetings and that the  Istanbul-Tehran-Islamabad train that passed from Pakistan, Iran and Turkey was a good example. The Forum was an important opportunity for establishing concrete cooperation with Afghanistan and serving as a joint platform between women entrepreneurs from the three countries. Stressing that Turkey and Pakistan ranked 126th and 131st in female labor force participation rate while Afghanistan was not even on the list, Sak stated that economies in which the said rate is low would always be laggard and fail to achieve development.

The meeting continued with a session during which entrepreneur women shared their own experiences and problems. During the session, Andeisha Farid from Afghanistan, Shagufta Parveen from Pakistan and Nazlı Ceylan from Turkey delivered speeches. The session revealed the problems about access to finance and about societal taboos in Afghanistan where women faced difficulty in accessing bank loans and women in the business world still were found odd. Pakistani women faced similar problems and refrained from entering business life due to problems in accessing bank loans. Entrepreneur women stressed the critical importance of the political will in overcoming these problems and called for support to solve the problems they encountered when participating in conferences and trade fairs.

The TOBB Women Entrepreneurs’ Board president, Aynur Bektaş, emphasized that Turkey had made significant progress in this field whereas there still was a long way to go. Stating that they were making efforts to establish a fund from which only women entrepreneurs could benefit, she added that an online network that would later be institutionalized could be established as an efficient communication mechanism between the women entrepreneurs of the three countries.

A commission to be formed between Afghanistan and Pakistan

During the first day of the Forum, the presidents of the three countries met in a limited-access session. Speaking at the joint press meeting held after the meeting, President Gül pointed at the importance of cooperation for the solution of regional problem and said:

“One of the key conclusions of the summit was the decision of Pakistan and Afghanistan to establish a cooperation mechanism in relation with the incidence after which Burhaneddin Rabbani was killed. I believe that this cooperation will serve as a confidence-building mechanism between the two countries. It was agreed to form a commission in which the two countries would participate with the aim of developing innovative ideas and recommendations. Turkey agreed to contribute to this process."

Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari stressed that Turkey’s contribution to the solution of problems between Pakistan and Afghanistan was important as a country which is familiar with the region and its culture and said, “Turkey is our friend, a Muslim brother country. Therefore, I believe that Turkey is a more appropriate candidate to support and guide our two countries when needed.”

Project proposals for women’s entrepreneurship discussed

During the sessions held during the second day of the Forum, views were exchanged on the steps that could be taken to improve women’s entrepreneurship in Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan. TEPAV Director Sak said, “We should identify four or five concrete projects to start with” and in this context recommended the creation of business branches specific to women, the setting up of a fund for women entrepreneurs, cooperation with universities, the sustaining of programs such as the Global Entrepreneurship Program supported by the US government, and the establishment of an institutional structure similar to the TOBB Women Entrepreneurs’ Boards.

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