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Women entrepreneurs get boost with new trade hub
South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF) and Association of Women Entrepreneurs of India initiated the Women Entrepreneur International Trade and Technology Hub, a move seen by many as empowering women to engage in business.South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF) and Association of Women Entrepreneurs of India initiated the Women Entrepreneur International Trade and Technology Hub, a move seen by many as empowering women to engage in business.
The announcement was made during the International Conference on “Women Entrepreneurs on “Innovation, Incubation & Industrialisation”, which was held on January 16 in Visakhapatnam, India.
SAWDF signed the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Amarnath Reddy, Minister for Industries and Commerce Department of Andhra Pradesh and the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of India to set up Women Entrepreneurs International Trade and Technology Hub during the International conference on Innovation, Incubation and Industrialisation at Visakhapatnam, India.
The main objective of the one stop marketing and service centre will be to boost women’s participation in trade through trade information, capacity building, product marketing and regional sharing of good practices. The trade hub will focus on strengthening trade in cross country, regional and global markets.
On the occasion, Chief Minister Chandra Babu Naidu of Andhra Pradesh addressed that the coming together of women entrepreneurs from the Saarc region would strengthen women entrepreneurship at the regional level. He said he was glad that the government of Andra Pradesh under his leadership allocated five acres of land for the establishment of the Hub.
Saarc Secretary General, Amjad Hussain B Sial, addressed the conference with the belief that that regional connectivity is extremely important and women issues are a priority in Saarc.
President of SAWDF, Pramila Acharya Rijal said the trade centre will create new business opportunities for women entrepreneurs in local, national, regional and international markets.
She said the hub will facilitate women’s participation in trade and mutual trade opportunities regionally and globally.
Likewise, Rama Devi, president of the Association for Women Entrepreneurs of India, stated that the trade hub will bring together women entrepreneurs from various regions in a common platform to showcase products, exchange of skills, training and new technologies.
Rijal attended the conference, leading a 40 member business women delegation from Nepal, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, and Sri Lanka.