LAHORE: Pakistan Single Window (PSW), in collaboration with the LUMS Centre for Entrepreneurship (LCE), hosted a dedicated mentorship and capacity-building session under its flagship Khadijah Women Entrepreneurship Programme at the LCE auditorium on the LUMS campus.
The session brought together aspiring women entrepreneurs, academic leaders and industry veterans to focus on entrepreneurial growth, digital trade integration and practical mentorship for scaling female-led enterprises.
Designed to connect academic ambition with real-world business execution, the session featured guidance and insights from business leaders and experts. Aasia Saail Khan, Founder and Director of LAMA; Saulat Salahuddin, Founder of Pronto Spaces; and Shehla Javed Akram, Founder of the Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (WCCI) Lahore, served as key mentors.
The session also included specialised entrepreneurial training led by Dr Shehryar Shahid, Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship and Innovation at LUMS. It highlighted the role of LCE in venture creation and showed how academic incubation and structured mentorship can support early-stage startup growth.
Speakers shared real-world experiences on understanding market complexities, building resilient brand identities, using digital platforms and enabling sustainable business expansion. Their interactive guidance provided aspiring entrepreneurs with lessons on overcoming operational barriers and scaling modern ventures in Pakistan’s evolving economic landscape.
As part of PSW’s mission to advance gender inclusion in trade, the Khadijah Programme continues to expand its reach across key academic institutions and industrial clusters. The initiative, recognised with the WTO Global Award for Gender Equality in Trade, combines trade facilitation with practical mentorship to equip female founders with technical knowledge, regulatory understanding and digital skills required to compete globally.
By connecting university talent with established industry figures, the programme aims to create an environment where innovative ideas can be developed into scalable and commercially viable enterprises.
Speaking on the impact of mentorship on young founders, PSW Chief Executive Officer Syed Aftab Haider said: “Empowering the next generation of women entrepreneurs requires not just technical trade tools, but also demands meaningful mentorship and real-world industry perspective. Our engagement at LUMS under the Khadijah Program reflects PSW’s commitment to cultivating entrepreneurial growth by connecting aspiring female leaders with experienced trailblazers. By providing students with practical market knowledge, we are building an inclusive, technology driven foundation for Pakistan's trade ecosystem.”
LCE Director Jazib Zahir reaffirmed the centre’s commitment to inclusive economic development through entrepreneurial initiatives. “We value this partnership with Pakistan Single Window for the Khadijah Program because it adds another dimension to our effort to integrate practical elements into our curriculum. Entrepreneurial thinking, digital skills, product-market fit and building for scale are all vital for success in the modern workplace. This exposure to business leaders and entrepreneurship experts provides encouragement to women entrepreneurs to develop these skills and build on their ideas,” he said.
Through partnerships with academic centres of excellence and industry leaders, Pakistan Single Window continues to strengthen the framework for female entrepreneurship in the country. By embedding real-world mentorship, digital trade literacy and leadership development into its outreach, the Khadijah Programme remains part of inclusive economic growth and paperless trade transformation.
