Ahead of the visit of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan’s President, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani later this month, Rula Ghani, the first lady of the country, on Thursday said she was keen on technical, marketing and branding advice and collaboration from Indian entrepreneurs, especially women.
“After 13 years of stability after the end of the civil war, now is the time to start putting up fundamental structures to move forward,” she said at a CII event. Ghani said while she had no “official mandate,” she saw herself as a “sounding board and facilitator” for the women of Afghanistan.
“It took me about two months to adapt to the place, which has several buildings. Now I have taken two rooms and set up an office. We have an open-door policy so that people can come and see me,” she said, adding that after the opening the office she realised she had “tapped a huge need.”
Skills needed Ghani said some Afghan women entrepreneurs were into textiles and designing clothes, but there were many skill areas that need to be tapped.
India is the fourth largest donor to Afghanistan and has been helping us substantially, she said adding that “you have done a lot for us in the past few decades, so I am here to learn.”