Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE) felicitated over 30 women entrepreneurs with the coveted Priyadarshini awards in three different categories. Women entrepreneurs from the remote areas of India, Nepal, Singapore, Bangladesh, Nigeria and Sri Lanka, were applauded for their exemplary achievements. Founded in 1993, FIWE is a national level organization devoted towards entrepreneurship development of women in the country.
Among the awardees included Selima Ahmad from Bangladesh, Pramila Acharya Rizal from Nepal, Rezani Aziz from Sri Lanka Dongche Yanik from Arunachal Pradesh, Dr. Nadia Binte Amin from Bangladesh, Dr. Mariyam Shakeela from Maldives, Marryam Khan from Pakistan, Gelhei Ray from Odisha, Neelam Patil from Madhya Pradesh, Ayodeji Megbope from Nigeria and Lilian Ong from Singapore.
Speaking at the occasion, Chief Guest Sandeep Marwah said, “Women are endowed with special characteristics like emotion and empathy which makes them superior to Men. They can have a better success ratio than men in any field. It’s a privilege to be honouring women of courage and resilience who have struggled their way to the top”.
“We are glad that we could bring to the fore, success stories of women entrepreneurs from various villages and tribes of India and acknowledge their hard work. Its heartening to witness how each one of them have honed their skills and upgraded their products to meet the market demand, From a mere earning of Rs.2,000 a month, some of them have reached to Rs.50,000”, said Dr. Rajni Aggarwal, President, FIWE
“The same spirit we have witnessed in our women entrepreneurs who have joined us from other countries. Women across the world face the same problems, be it gender inequality, lack of finance, or skills, etc., yet they are not willing to let any of these bog them down. There are enough reports stating women entrepreneurs and employees have suffered more than their male counterparts due to pandemic, however, their spirits are high as compared to menfolk. We have witnessed so many of them quickly adapting to the new normal and changing their course of action, upskilling them, diversifying and even treading a new path”, said Poonam K Malhotra, Vice President, FIWE.
“The FIWE/MSME/ISID Conference has discussed how to expand access to finance including through use of fintech and how to leverage technologies and start-ups. In particular, it discussed how e-commerce and digital marketing can be game-changing tools for women entrepreneurs empowering them to conduct their businesses from their homes. The need for building capacity to harness the potential of digital marketing by women entrepreneurs was emphasized. In that context, UNESCAP South Asia Office was seen to be playing an important role. The India’s Government-e-marketplace (GEM) has helped 1.3 lakh women-led MSMEs sell their products directly to the Government. ISID will be taking the discussions forward in the context of its work on MSMEs and entrepreneurship”, said Prof Nagesh Kumar, Director, Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID)
“We, at FIWE, will always be there, lending them a hand, and making it possible for them to scale new heights. And the MSME Ministry is more than willing to provide a more suitable environment to women entrepreneurs”, added Aggarwal
Among the esteemed guests present were Selima Ahmad, Member of Parliament, Bangladesh, Shovana Narayan, Salma Sultan, Shirley Jayawardena, President, FCCI, Shakeela Mariyam, President, Women Chamber of Commerce, Maldives, Pramila Acharya Rizal, President, South Asian Women Development Forum, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Rezani Aziz, Chief Executive, Adfactors, Sri Lanka, K. Ratnaprabha.