{"id":88260,"date":"2025-10-17T11:47:36","date_gmt":"2025-10-17T06:47:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/?p=88260"},"modified":"2025-10-17T11:47:36","modified_gmt":"2025-10-17T06:47:36","slug":"ptcl-group-and-ppaf-announce-expansion-of-ba-ikhtiar-initiative-at-gitex-global-2025-to-empower-over-2300-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/ptcl-group-and-ppaf-announce-expansion-of-ba-ikhtiar-initiative-at-gitex-global-2025-to-empower-over-2300-women\/","title":{"rendered":"PTCL group and PPAF announce expansion of \u2018Ba-Ikhtiar\u2019 initiative at GITEX global 2025 to empower over 2,300 women"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Dubai\/Islamabad<br \/>\nPTCL Group, in collaboration with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), announced the expansion of its flagship women empowerment initiative, Ba-Ikhtiar, during GITEX Global 2025 in Dubai.<br \/>\nThe agreement was signed between Hatem Bamatraf, President and Group CEO, PTCL &#038; Ufone 4G, and Nadir Gul Barech, CEO, PPAF, marking another milestone in PTCL Group\u2019s commitment to inclusive development and digital empowerment across Pakistan.<br \/>\n\u2018Ba-Ikhtiar\u2019, a social initiative jointly piloted by PTCL Group (PTCL &#038; Ufone 4G) and the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF) to empower 100 underprivileged women entrepreneurs in Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, is now being expanded to 23 flood-affected cities across the country following its resounding success.<br \/>\nThe extended program aims to up-skill over 2,300 women by equipping them with digital and entrepreneurial capabilities to enhance their livelihoods and drive upward social mobility.<br \/>\nThe Ba-Ikhtiar program combines digital literacy, financial management, and training in practical trades such as stitching, pottery, handicrafts, food preservation, and organic cosmetics.<br \/>\nLeveraging PTCL Group\u2019s digital infrastructure and connectivity alongside PPAF\u2019s nationwide community outreach, the initiative connects participants with the tools, platforms, and opportunities needed to turn skills into long-term income.<br \/>\nSpeaking on the occasion, Hatem Bamatraf, President and Group CEO, PTCL &#038; Ufone 4G, said, \u201cPTCL Group leverages its digital expertise and infrastructure to enhance the well-being of underprivileged communities.<br \/>\nThrough our social impact platform, \u2018Dil Se\u2019, we have touched thousands of lives with transformative initiatives. Ba-Ikhtiar stands out as a flagship program that sets a new benchmark in sustainable social empowerment, and we are proud to extend this opportunity to more talented women across Pakistan.\u201d<br \/>\nCEO PPAF, Nadir Gul Barech, added, \u201cThe expansion of the Ba-Ikhtiar program marks a significant milestone in our journey to empower women from vulnerable communities.<br \/>\nPPAF\u2019s partnership with PTCL Group allows us to combine social development with digital innovation to create real pathways for women to achieve economic self-reliance. We are glad to enable women across Pakistan to build livelihoods that are both sustainable and transformative for their communities.\u201d<br \/>\nThe Ba-Ikhtiar program represents a shared vision of building a digitally inclusive Pakistan, where women are empowered through knowledge, technology, and opportunity. The initiative is now set to bring thousands more women into the fold of economic empowerment and self-reliance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dubai\/Islamabad PTCL Group, in collaboration with the Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF), announced the expansion of its flagship women empowerment initiative, Ba-Ikhtiar, during GITEX Global 2025 in Dubai. The agreement was signed between Hatem Bamatraf, President and Group CEO, PTCL &#038; Ufone 4G, and Nadir Gul Barech, CEO, PPAF, marking another milestone in PTCL Group\u2019s &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":88277,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-88260","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88260","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88260"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88260\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":88278,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88260\/revisions\/88278"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88277"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88260"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88260"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88260"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}