The Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) has signed a Memorandum of Cooperation with Khushhali bank, with an aim to promote their common vision of promoting economic development and access to finance.
The USAID supported Entrepreneurs project is subjected to increase the incomes of more than 75,000 women micro-entrepreneurs engaged in dairy, hand embellished fabrics, beekeeping and medicinal plant collection across the country through production and quality improvement. This program aims to provide easy access to better markets and business service providers such as micro-finance institutions.
Both organizations agreed to identify potential micro-entrepreneurs and help facilitate meetings with those willing to avail microfinance facilities from Khushhali bank.
They also decided to take appropriate measures to prepare business plans for interested micro-entrepreneurs, improve their technical skills and linkage development with market. Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA) agreed to strengthen links of Khushhali bank with these businessmen and women including regular communication, coordination and counseling.
This memorandum will be effective from the 10th of December until completion of the sub-grants in March 2014. One person each was designated from both concerned parties as the focal person, with an aim to coordinate and oversee this cooperation.
Felicitating both parties on the occasion, Ghalib Nishtar, President Khushhali bank, said that “Small and medium sized micro-entrepreneurs are vital to the economic growth of the country”.
He added that “Khushhali bank has come up as the largest institution supporting micro and small entrepreneurs through various widely-accessible financial services across the country, and has always sponsored and promoted platforms to discuss such initiatives.
The very boom of microfinance has appeared as sheer blessing for the economic progress, better to say, socioeconomic survival of the country as this is microfinance which has been successfully bringing up the positive changes at the macro level. Though, most of the time such steady progress of this crucial sector gets unnoticed in our country, but the gradual rise of an economically autonomous and financially self-sufficient class from the deep-seated poverty and impoverishes can be, easily, termed as a revolution itself”.
I hope the entrepreneurs project will help promote economic development and small stakeholders can benefit from it by getting access to sufficient finance. This is a good opportunity for women particularly in rural areas who are engaged in small businesses to diversify their business.
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