Pakistan Women Entrepreneurship Programme (PWEP), a joint venture of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and American University (AU), Washington DC wrapped up its activities for the second phase with a Women Summit on August 9, 2017.
The programme is supported by the US Department of State and US Pakistan Women Council. Starting in 2014 under the umbrella of Social Enterprise Development Centre (SEDC) LUMS, Pakistan Women Entrepreneurship Programme has trained 88 business women in different areas of business management including marketing, accounting, supply chain management, finance and leadership.
The Women Summit on Wednesday brought together entrepreneurs from the first and second cohort of the programme. The summit started with a welcome note by the Programme Director, Dr. Misbah Tanveer Chaudhary, followed by a guest speaker session on the importance of company registration for entrepreneurs. The session was delivered by Ms. Shazia Suleiman, President Women Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Lahore.
Ms. Kimberly Cayce, Adjunct Professional Lecturer, and Ms. Stephanie Fischer, Director Experiential Learning, from American University conducted a ninety-minute workshop with the participants on Business Improvement Planning. It was followed by a session on debunking myths about commercial bank loans by Mr. Hafiz Muhammad Azeem Malik, Relationship Manager (SME & Commercial Loans) Allied Bank Limited.
At the end of the session, women entrepreneurs shared their experience of being a part of the PWEP, how they implemented the training into their businesses and the results achieved.
The event was also attended by Dr. Jawad Syed, Dean Suleman Dawood School of Business, LUMS and guests from the US Consulate Lahore; Mr. Yuriy Fedkiw, Counsel General; Mr. Michael Guinan, Public Affairs Officer and Mr. Tanveer Hassan, Cultural Affairs Officer. The guests praised the programme and emphasised on the need of taking such initiatives for the promotion of women entrepreneurship.
