South Asian women entrepreneurs talk trade

South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF) and Association of Women Entrepreneurs of India (ALEAP INDIA) initiated the Women Entrepreneur International Trade and Technology Hub (WITH), coinciding it with the International Conference on ‘Women Entrepreneurs on ‘Innovation, Incubation & Industrialization’ from January 16 to 19 at Visakhapatnam in India.
South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF) also signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Amarnath Reddy, Minister for Industries and Commerce Department of Andra Pradesh and the Association of Lady Entrepreneurs of India (ALEAP INDIA) to set up Women Entrepreneurs International Trade and Technology Hub (WITH) in the presence of Chief Minister of Andra Pradesh Chandra Babu Naidu, during International conference on Innovation, Incubation and Industrialization at Visakhapatnam, India.
The main objective of one stop marketing and service center 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 Guest, 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.
The 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, PramilaAcharyaRijal said the trade center will create new business opportunities for Women Entrepreneur in local, national, regional and international market. She said the hub will facilitate women’s participation in trade and mutual trade opportunities regionally and globally. Likewise, Ms. Rama Devi, President of the Association for Lady Entrepreneurs of India (ALEAP India), stated that the trade hub will bring together women entrepreneurs from various regions in a common platform to show case 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.