According to SECP, 21,168 companies registered between March 2020 and March 2021, and 5,145 firms have at least one female director.
On Wednesday, the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) released the data of total registered companies with SECP between March 2020 and 2021. It was revealed that out of a total of 21,168 companies, 5,145 companies have at least one female director. The commission is well-aware of the significant role being played by women in economic growth.
According to the commission, it has introduced various measured in order to improve gender mainstreaming within the organization. These measures include an increase in maternity leave from 90-180 days, also 48 percent representation of females in new hiring, and 23 percent representation in recent promotions was ensured. There are only 29 percent of female representatives at senior levels and only 23 percent are working on the management team.
The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) further said that the country has improved its score on entrepreneurship indicator of Woman, Business and the Law (WBL) index from 50 to 75 points among 190 countries, the World Bank publication announced.
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Moreover, the Woman, Business, and the Law (WBL) index also covers 8 broad areas that include workplace, marriage, mobility, entrepreneurship, parenthood, pay, pension, and assets.
As per the report of 2021, the country has improved its score on two indicators, entrepreneurship and workplace, and resulted in upgrading the overall score to 55.6, from 49.4 in 2020. Pakistan has been included in 5 economies that have hosted reforms to improve entrepreneurship opportunities for women.
SECP Commissioner Sadia Khan, on the occasion of International Women’s day, a few days back, encouraged women to actively participate in various activities. Events on diversity should be made a regular feature where women can have the opportunity to discuss all progress made in the past, and so they can grow.
