New bill will reverse 18 years of reforms and efforts: Samina Fazil
TARIQ KHATTAK
Islamabad:
Samina Fazil, President of the Islamabad Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (IWCCI), has warned that a bill introduced in the National Assembly to amend the Trade Organizations Rules 2013 could dismantle district-level chambers across Pakistan and effectively dissolve dozens of women’s chambers formed after years of struggle.
She said the proposed amendments would restructure chamber jurisdictions by limiting them to divisional or municipal boundaries, eliminating the current district-based framework under which many women’s chambers operate. Such restructuring would force smaller, women-led chambers into mergers with larger bodies, ending their independent representation.
In a formal objection letter addressed to the Director General Trade Organizations (DGTO), Bilal Pasha, Fazil conveyed concerns raised by the presidents of all women’s chambers of Pakistan. They warned that the proposed changes would centralise representation and reduce grassroots participation in trade bodies.
Samina Fazil noted that women-only chambers emerged after a 2007 amendment created legal space for their registration, following sustained advocacy. She said reversing that framework would undermine two decades of struggle.
She also cautioned that the changes could marginalise SMEs, particularly in tehsils and rural areas where export-oriented clusters rely on local chambers for networking, certification support, and regulatory liaison. Pakistan has around 5.2 million SMEs, contributing roughly 40 percent to GDP and about 80 percent of non-agricultural employment. A significant but undercounted share of these enterprises is women-led.
Fazil argued that women entrepreneurs already face structural constraints, including limited access to finance, mobility restrictions, and weaker market linkages. Eliminating district-level chambers could push many businesses back into the informal economy, reducing their visibility and access to policy forums.
She urged lawmakers to reconsider the proposal and instead focus on strengthening, rather than consolidating, the existing network of women’s chambers nationwide.
