PINE Global and Injaz Pakistan join hands to empower women through financial inclusion and digital literacy

PINE Global (People’s Incubation New Enterprise) and Injaz Pakistan (JA Worldwide) signed an MOU on June 4th 2020.

The post covid19 MOU highlights the women’s economic development program through financial and digital inclusion.

The CEO and Founder of PINE Global Erum Masood said, “It is now the time for digital make over for women empowerment. We no longer can just survive on the basic skilled based talent but will work in providing a platform which will enable women to empower themselves through financial inclusion and digital literacy.”

The new normal as we speak about will showcase the new curriculum of the incubation which will now be online training and e commerce models. As this incubation will also be supported by the Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Forum and Network therefore the exposure for the women in Pakistan will get a better value for the global market opportunities

Launched in Nov 2019, PINE Global is a business incubator program that helps and trains young entrepreneurs to develop their business ideas in to a business model and forward.

The program is developed under the guidelines of the ‘Youth Entrepreneurship Policies’ by the Commonwealth. We are backed by some of the most successful companies that once started out as startups themselves, including Shajar Capital and Osmani and Co.

Ms. Masood further added, “Many women entrepreneurs worldwide are still trapped at the ‘micro’ and ‘informal’ level, unable to access larger business loans to grow their businesses to an SME level; while many ‘small’ women-owned businesses also struggle to grow to ‘medium’ size. PINE Global through its women incubation set up and on the guidelines of the Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Network will focus on women startup businesses and to support women-owned enterprises as they transition from micro to small to medium to large where there is much less support available.”

The CEO of INJAZ Pakistan (JA Worldwide) Ayesha Zaheer said,“Diversity and inclusion is the key to essential innovation; growth & success and its key enabler is entrepreneurial and Financial Literacy trainings concluding in e-literacy.”

INJAZ Pakistan (www.injaz-pakistan.org), is a Pakistan-based social impact organization with an extensive international network as a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide (www.ja.org), one of the largest youth serving NGOs in the world, creating pathways for employability, job creation, and financial success for the past 100 years.

INJAZ Pakistan has been working with the youth of varying ages and demographics, providing hands-on, experiential learning specifically in the areas of Work-readiness, Entrepreneurship and Financial literacy since its inception in April 2012. It aims to train, coach and motivate students and provide platforms to them to showcase their knowledge, skills and abilities on various domestic and international forums. To date, INJAZ Pakistan has impacted over 50,000 youth from approximately 900 educational institutions across Pakistan.

(WEE) Women Economic Empowerment is essentially a key area of focus for JA Pakistan (INJAZ) Through collaborations and partnerships with multilateral agencies like DFID, USAID, Embassy of the Netherlands and British Asian Trust also The State Bank of Pakistan, INJAZ mobilizes and inducts women from urban slums and rural communities and conducts trainings in the field of entrepreneurship, financial literacy and job placements thus aligning with 10 out of 17 SDGs by UN.

The Financial Literacy Inclusion enables these women, to get introduced to financial services and assistance subsequently enabling them to be better equipped in making progressive financial decisions, increase their household income, through savings, access to microfinance loans and future investments.

Rehan Ateeq, CEO Shajar Capital and Director PINE, has been a great supporter of the women empowerment program and believes that in today’s economy, women’s progress through digital transformation plays a vital role.  He said, “This MOU will add financial value services to women owned small and medium sized enterprises, and advocate for the development of a sustainable market to address the financial interest and investment focus strategy. Furthermore, it ambitions to promoting cooperation, connectivity of facilities, trade connectivity, financial integration and connectivity of people.”

Sundus Anwar

Sundus is a Media Graduate from Kinnaird College Lahore. Writing and Reviewing is her passion that she takes out at www.trendinginsocial.com.