Business Desk 
Nov 20, 2025
Pakistan is preparing to launch its first National Women Entrepreneurship Policy, a major step to expand financing, training, and market access for women-led businesses across the country.
The plan focuses on improving financial inclusion by encouraging banks and financial institutions to introduce products designed specifically for women. It also reinforces the State Bank’s Banking on Equality Policy and the SECP’s Women Equality in Finance Policy.
Aimed at raising women's employment from 2% to 5%, the policy outlines several measurable targets. After the new initiative, it is expected to increase the number of women exporters to 50% from the existing 2,500.
Other targets involve a 20% increase in co-working spaces, 15% of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Fund proceeds to be dedicated to women entrepreneurs, and 5% of the Export Development Fund to go to women exporters.
The initiative was highlighted during a Women's Entrepreneurship Day ceremony organised by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA) and the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) in Islamabad, where more than 21 Women's Chambers of Commerce and Industry took part.
Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan said the policy places women at the centre of economic growth.
Other flagship components include the AI-enabled Women Entrepreneurship Portal, which has been developed with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) support. It will provide mentorship, business services, and regulatory guidance. Under the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Women Inclusive Finance Programme, new digital tools, multilingual training, and reskilling programmes for homemakers will also be launched.
This will also facilitate the transition of female participation in informal to formal business, reduce regulatory costs, promote access to markets, and enhance initiatives such as the Khadija Programme under the Pakistan Single Window.
