LAHORE– Pakistan China Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCJCCI) President Shah Faisal Afridi has said the shifting of Chinese handicrafts industry to Pakistan can play a vital role in empowering Pakistani women.
Afridi urged the government in a statement here on Thursday in think tank session, to work on strategic methods to bring the women in mainstream of economy and address the cultural barriers in the full exercise of women’s citizenship.
He said that, “China could be helpful in attaining this goal as China is one of the leading producers of hand-made products with over 40 percent share in the world trade but with the technological revolution and high labor cost, the handmade sector in China is highly disturbed.
In this scenario, Pakistan could become the manufacturing house of handicrafts for China as Pakistan is enriched with a labor captive skilled human resource in the form of bucolic women, Afridi added.
He said there was an intense similarity of interest between Pakistan and China in respect to production and exports of giftware and handicrafts, which could lead to a viable partnership between the two countries.
Ahmed Hasnain, the Senior Vice President PCJCCI said that currently, the handicraft manufacturing industry in China is facing hurdles due to expensive labor, whereas demand of the traditional hand-made products is on the rise.
Therefore it will be beneficial for Pakistan to initiate joint ventures with China in the handicrafts sector on the basis of buy-back guarantee under which raw materials and wages will be provided by China and in return market-driven handicrafts items will be produced by Pakistan which will also provide platform to empower the women of Pakistan.
He added, the handicrafts sector is the only sector having direct linkage with skills of women so there is dire need to tap this segment to empower more than 50 percent population of women in Pakistan.
Salahuddin Hanif, the General Secretary PCJCCI, shared his views by saying that the revival of the handicrafts industry depends on the development of infrastructure, provision of financial support to women artisans, establishment of direct links between buyers and artisans, elimination of middlemen and improved marketing facilities.— PRESS RELEASE
