No less than 70 percent of the graduates trained under Women in Trade Management Training and Mentorship Programme (WIT-2012), sponsored by the US Agency for International Development, are gainfully employed at national and international trading companies.
While interviewing these graduates at the certificate distribution ceremony organised for Management Trainees on Tuesday.
The women in trade (WIT) programme trainees, comprising young graduates from Institute of Business Administration, Karachi University, Shaheed Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST), Institute of Business Management and KASBIT have been hired by a wide range of companies at important positions. The scenario is registered to have improved women representation, at managerial positions in the international trade companies based in Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad.
Zara Tazeen, with an MBA degree in marketing, acknowledged the quality of trade management training that besides improving her professional capabilities also enabled her to play an efficient role in introducing Pakistan made products to the international market.
“The internship not only enhanced my confidence but also groomed me in handling business affairs and this again enhanced employment opportunities for me,” she said.
Associated with C&A Sourcing, Zara is an efficient contributor towards promotion of Pakistan-made apparels, knitwear and leather made goods at international level.
Khadijah Arshad, with a BBA degree from IBA, is currently working as assistant production manager at a pharmaceutical company and found this an opportunity to efficiently meet the two years job requirement for completion of master’s programme. “The training and exposure I had was tremendous and would go a long way in my career,” she said.
The young professional found the internship to have also catapulted her urge to bring about the much needed change in the society. Internees were equally appreciative of the mentorship programme that provided them with needed guidance to solve problems they come across during their dealings with different sections of people.
This internship programme provided an opportunity for women not only explore a career in the international trade and sourcing sector but also to gain professional skills in communications, marketing, product development and supply chain management Saleena Beg, senior analyst Human Capital Management for the USAID Trade Project.
To a question about relevance of the programme, she said university graduates were selected for WIT internship after a careful scrutiny.
“It was important as these young women internees were making an untraditional choice,” she said mentioning that the programme was launched on pilot basis in 2011 and the success led to its inception as a regular annual programme.
The international trade sector in Pakistan currently employs very few women in managerial positions; they comprise less than 10 percent of management and 20 percent of junior staff in trade companies.
“USAID’s Women in Trade (WIT) initiative works to set up linkages between international firms and local universities, so that more women have opportunities to explore careers in international trade,” said Saleena.
The WIT initiative, she said will also help companies select the best-suited university graduates for training and potential future recruitment.
Under this cross-country programme the trainees have completed three months of management training with prominent national and international trading organisations including Engro Eximp Pvt Ltd, Interloop Ltd, MK Sons, Masood Textile Mills, Lucky Cement, Herbion International Inc, EuroCentra, Ellery Homestyles, C&A Europe/Mondial Orient Ltd, Target Sourcing Services Pakistan, Texlynx, Nishat Group, and Li and Fung Pakistan.
The certificate award ceremony was also attended by the CEOs, Presidents and Senior HR Managers of the partner organisations who supported USAID in improving gender ratio in the international trade sector of Pakistan.