Uzbek Business Women Keen In Batik Industry

By Azzah Mohamad KUALA LUMPUR, April 3 (Bernama) -- The Business Women's Association of Uzbekistan (BWA) aims to spread more information about the batik industry to its members other than expanding palm oil products in Uzbekistan, said its chairperson Gulnora G. Makhmudova. "We will have a small training workshop for woman regarding batik manufacturing," she said at a press conference at the Uzbek embassy here on Monday. Makhmudova had led a 12-member BWA delegation on a one week trip here to discuss business opportunities with Malaysian business women. The delegation left for home Tuesday. She said that during the trip, organised by the Ministry of Information Comunication and Culture, the association had met Malaysian women entrepreneurs where BWA showed its interest in batik manufacturing and palm oil products among other things. Makhmudova said that the visit was also to promote BWA among Malaysian business women and to gain more information about each other. "In order to start something, and to realise it, we have to get more information about each other," she said. She invited women entrepreneurs in Malaysia to do business in Uzbekistan and hoped that in the future both nations would have stronger relationship in the business area. "We would like to invite you to see our nice, beautiful country where women can freely do as much as they want because the government provides women with different types of educational programmes and financial support. "The government also provides them ways to find (business) partners and how to sell and improve their products as well as how to make the business more effective," she said. BWA is one of the first national women non-governmental organisations in Central Asia and has more than 12,000 members. Its mission is to promote and protect economic, social rights and opportunities of women. The association also supports women's entrepreneural and public initiatives, provides access to financial assistance, educational and information resources. The 12 members who took part in the trip are doing business in various areas such as bakery, medical, publishing, confectionery and trading companies. While here they also had meetings with PERDASAMA (Malay Businessmen and Industrialist Association of Malaysia) and the Chinese Chamber of Commerce. -- BERNAMA