The Women Entrepreneurship Conference (WECON) 2025 opened today at the Pak-China Friendship Centre with a renewed promise: to turn equity from an aspiration into a concrete pathway for women across Pakistan. Co-hosted by Change Mechanics Pvt. Ltd. and the British Council, this sixth edition of WECON gathered Pakistan’s leading policymakers, innovators, financiers, educators and founders under the theme “Masawaat,” the Urdu word for equity.
Positioned as one of Pakistan’s most influential platforms for advancing women’s economic participation, WECON 2025 framed equity not just as fairness, but as a structural redesign. The event urged institutions to recognise that women do not all enter entrepreneurship from the same starting point, and that systems, policies and industries must evolve to reflect that truth.
This year’s conference brought together a powerful coalition of public and private stakeholders. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, Federal Board of Revenue, Pakistan Single Window, GSMA, NAVTTC, UNDP, Ignite, TiE Islamabad and Invest2Innovate were among the organisations contributing expertise on making Pakistan’s entrepreneurship ecosystem more inclusive and more responsive to the needs of women.
Supporting partners, including Karandaaz, Mobilink Bank, TechJuice, Fatima Jinnah Women’s University, All-Pakistan Women’s Universities Consortium, Google Developer Groups Islamabad, Code for Pakistan, Innoventures Global, Jazz and the Higher Education Commission, highlighted their ongoing role in expanding access to training, capital and networks.
James Hampson, Country Director of the British Council Pakistan, underscored the shared mission behind the partnership: “Equality and inclusion are at the heart of our work. It makes complete sense for us to support efforts that unleash the entrepreneurial talent of Pakistan’s women.”
Sayyed Masud, founder of the WECON Movement, drew on the iconic 1979 Pakistani feminist film Aurat Raj as he challenged the audience to rethink who the system is built for. “The question is not how to give space to women,” he said, “but whether Pakistan can ever truly progress if we leave half our talent and intelligence on the sidelines.”
Panel discussions explored the difference between equality and equity, arguing that equal treatment alone cannot correct historical and structural gaps. Speakers called for tailored pathways that support women from the idea stage to scale-up, urging reforms in financing, mobility, taxation and digital access.
Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan, Chairman of Prime Minister on Youth Program, was the chief guest of the opening ceremony. He later went on to applaud all the women-led initiatives that were on display in Pak-China Friendship Center as part of WECOn 2025.
“Our daughters have so much talent that they can dominate the world,” Rana Mashhood appreciated the women entrepreneurial efforts throughout Pakistan.
“I gave Youth Policy back in 2010,” he told the youth, “And all other provinces later on adopted it. The main point of that policy was empowerment of women.”
He also talked about the recent Prime Minister Youth Program Laptop Scheme, by which nearly 100,000 students are set to avail the freedom of entrepreneurship and freelance skills, as a tool vital for women empowerment, especially at a younger level.
Talking exclusively to TechJuice, Rana Mashhood stressed that his government is doing everything in its power to alleviate the tech industry. He said that government has pushed the tech reforms, particularly startups and entrepreneurial ventures, from $2.5 billion to a potential $25 billion industry by the end of the tenure.
Other notable policy roundtables addressed how gender-responsive frameworks can be embedded into national entrepreneurship strategies, and how stronger alignment between academia, industry and the TVET sector can support skill development at scale.
WECON 2025 celebrated the ingenuity and resilience of women founders through sector-diverse startup pitches, storytelling sessions and fireside conversations. Entrepreneurs shared experiences navigating Pakistan’s business landscape, from securing capital to overcoming cultural barriers.
Participants engaged in Learning Labs and Skill Clinics covering AI literacy, branding, digital transformation, leadership, e-commerce, and product photography. These practical sessions, organizers noted, are central to preparing women for the next decade of technology-driven economic opportunity.
In closing remarks, Sayyed Ahmad Masud, Project Director at the National Incubation Centre Islamabad, reaffirmed the long-term mission of the WECON movement: building a system where women entrepreneurs lead, more than just participate.
Over the past seven years, WECON has supported more than 5,000 women entrepreneurs nationwide, helping them access networks, training, visibility and pathways to growth. As Pakistan’s digital economy accelerates, WECON’s role has expanded from an annual conference to a year-round engine for collaboration and capability-building.
The 2025 edition made one message clear: equity is a deliberate act of redesigning institutions, reshaping markets and rewriting who gets to build the country’s economic future.