IFC’s Pakistan Investment Competitiveness Project (the “Program”) provides advisory services to help strengthen the development of the private sector in Pakistan and is managed by IFC’s Equitable Growth, Finance & Institutions Department (“EFI”). The objective of the Program is to increase investment in Pakistan by strengthening the country’s ability to attract investment through facilitation and retention arrangements, removing barriers to entry and establishment, addressing weaknesses in the investment promotion capacity, improving access to information on regulatory requirements, improving the business environment in key priority sectors and enhancing federal and provincial coordination on investor services.
A sector scan was conducted to identify sectors ready for investment promotion and was complemented with analysis of the role of women in those sectors and the implications of sectoral prioritization for women employment and entrepreneurship; the (5) priority sectors are: Agriculture – food processing, IT services, Automotive, Textile, and logistics. Building on this, the project will identify barriers to women employment and entrepreneurship in the identified sector and implement behavioral interventions that encourage more female participation.
- Webinar on Responsible Business Conduct: The Value of Transparency took place on on Thursday, June 25th at 4:00 pm PKT. The webinar featured speakers from IFC, Cerb and Interloop Ltd on Responsible Business Conduct and Corporate Governance to discuss principles and benefits of disclosure and transparency to firms’ long-term sustainability.
- 3 Focus Group Discussions have been held with HR heads from the Textile, Agriculture (food-processing) and Automotive sectors in July 2020. The core purpose of conducting FGDs for gender analysis of selected sectors is to understand the existing scenario of women’s employment opportunities in Pakistan. The discussions comprised of key indicators, examples of good practices and challenges companies in these sectors are facing when it comes to gender inclusive policies at work.
