‘Equip women with entrepreneurial skills’

Cherie Blair, wife of the former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair, said on Friday that it was important to empower women in entrepreneurial skills to boost economy.

Addressing a gathering here, Ms. Blair said her foundation would be working closely with local NGOs and University of Mumbai to empower Indian women in the skills of entrepreneurship.

“‘Women mean business’ is the title of our programme and we will identify and resolve the barriers that block women in India in doing business and becoming entrepreneurs,” the founder of Cherie-Blair Foundation for Women said, during her first-ever initiative in India.

“The foundation will help Indian women to overcome the challenges and play an important role in India’s socio-economic growth. The foundation is working on empowering women across the world,” she said.

Ms. Blair expressed happiness at the changing socio-economic situation of the country.

“The problems in India are getting less and the country has seen a lot of success stories. The growth rate has gone up,” she said.

Those present at the function included Sheriff of Mumbai Indu Sahani, Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Chanda Kochhar, India’s first woman IPS officer Kiran Bedi, and Managing Director of Britannia Vinita Bali.