Fatema seeks government support for women’s businesses promotion  

AIBAK (Pajhwok): Businesswoman Fatima Sherzad has expressed her concern about the future of her business due to the low-sale of  products she produces and asked relevant government authorities to support businesswomen.

Fatima Sherzad, started her business four years ago in northern Samangan province in the field of gemstones, children’s outfit, clothes, bags, handkerchiefs and embroidered clothes production, she earns livelihood for her 10-member family from the income of her business.

About the start of her  business Fatima said: “Due to limited resources, I started my business from the money of only one sheep but right now I have 40 more co-workers in my handicrafts business.”

She said the market of her products was very good in the past in Samangan but right now the sale had dropped.

She cited the tough economic situations of the people, lack of attention from authorities and relevant institutions to this industry and public preference to the use of foreign products as the main reasons behind the deteriorated condition of her business.

Fatima said: “We sell our products ourselves to the people of these villages and now we found our consumers. We supply our products with cheaper prices but we need the assistance of relevant organizations in increasing the capacity of our workers to promote this industry back.”

According to the figures of local authorities, right now there are over 500 female businesswomen in Samangan province who produce different handicrafts and sell them to shopkeepers or in Tahmina Park, the only women’s market in Aibak city.

Marwa is another worker of tailoring industry who earns livelihood for her eight-member family from the income she makes in industry.

She said that she created her industry 11 years ago, besides tailoring, she also did handicraft work, and in these years, she has been preparing and selling Afghani dresses, Afghani burqas, men’s hand-embroidered clothes, handkerchiefs, all kinds of ornaments and flower embroidery.

According to Marwa, the people use foreign products because the domestic products are not supported by the government or other relevant organizations, these days such industrialists face various problems.

She asked government and other organizations to support female businesses and not allow women businesses to be closed.

Mohammad Ishaq, one of the women products shopkeepers in Aibak City, said that women businesses and products faced full stagnation these days.

He said, some years ago they sent the locally produced handicrafts to Kabul and some neighboring countries, but in the last two years, he could not export the handicrafts produced by women to other provinces or to foreign countries.

He believes that the handicrafts of Samangan province have good market in foreign countries, he asked from the government to facilitate the exports of these handicrafts into foreign countries.

Marya Azimi, another business woman, said there were over 500 women in this industry who produce cakes, cookies, dairy products and dried fruits in Samangan, each of these industrialists hire around 10 or 20 more women to work for them.

Local authorities of that province emphasized over support to businesswomen and embroiders.

Provincial Industry and Commerce Chief Maulvi Ahmad Khan Khadem told Pajhwok Afghan News that the government was supporting female entrepreneurs at any time.

Efforts are being made to introduce businesswomen and handicrafts women to the institutions that cooperate with them so that the challenges these women faced are addressed.

Aw/nh