According to WBL Report 2021, Pakistan has improved its position in the entrepreneurship indicator of Woman, Business, and the Law. It has improved its score from 50 to 75 points which is a pretty significant achievement.
The reforms introduced by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) are mainly credited for this improvement. These reforms have paved the way for women entrepreneurs as they can register their company effectively and promptly.
WBL Report is a World Bank publication. Its main purpose is to evaluate the laws and regulations of 190 countries, including Pakistan. This evaluation and observation are for the identification of requirements that restrict women’s economic opportunities.
In addition to this, the report covers eight broad areas. These are mobility, workplace, pay, marriage, parenthood, entrepreneurship, assets, and pension.
According to the WBL 2021 report, Pakistan has improved its score in two significant indicators: entrepreneurship and the workplace. This caused an upgrade in overall score to 55.6, from 49.4 in 2020. To add to it, Pakistan is one of the top five economies that have introduced reforms for improving entrepreneurship opportunities for women.
From March 2020 to March 2021, 21,168 companies have been registered by SECP. Out of these companies, 5,415 have at least one women director. This means that 24.3 percent of total incorporation during the year contains women in it.
Being aware of women’s critical role in economic growth, SECP has introduced numerous steps to improve gender mainstreaming within the organization.
Recent improvements include an increase in maternity leave from 90 days to 180 days, 48 percent female representation in new hiring, 23 percent female representation in promotions, etc. If we talk about SECP itself, 29 percent of women representatives at senior level and 23 percent at management cadre are working.