Pakistan Single Window, in collaboration with IBA Centre for Entrepreneurial Development, is bringing the Khadijah Women Entrepreneurship Program to Karachi as part of its Phase 2 expansion. The program, which has previously received recognition from the World Trade Organization, is designed to connect women entrepreneurs with digital trade systems, professional networks, and market opportunities — areas where women-led businesses in Pakistan have historically faced structural barriers to entry.
The Karachi session is structured as an interactive group discussion rather than a conventional workshop, with the intent of creating space for women entrepreneurs to share real-world experiences, articulate the challenges they face, and provide practical input that will directly inform the design of future support mechanisms under the program. The approach reflects a deliberate effort to build the initiative around the voices of its intended beneficiaries rather than delivering a predetermined curriculum.
PSW’s partnership with IBA Centre for Entrepreneurial Development for this leg of the program brings together a trade facilitation platform and one of Pakistan’s more active university-based entrepreneurship development centres. IBA Centre for Entrepreneurial Development, led by Director Lalarukh Ejaz, has a track record of working with early-stage founders and women-led ventures, making it a natural institutional partner for an initiative of this scope and orientation.
Participants in the Karachi session have been encouraged to complete a pre-workshop form ahead of the event, allowing organisers to tailor the discussion to the specific needs of the women entrepreneurs attending. The collaboration signals a broader intent within PSW’s Phase 2 to move beyond Islamabad and extend the Khadijah Program’s reach into Pakistan’s commercial capital, where a significant proportion of the country’s women-led businesses operate.
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