Kerala to build India’s first global trade centre for women to boost entrepreneurship

• The state government is setting up an International Women’s Trade Centre to boost entrepreneurship.
• The centre that will be ready in 2021 will be in Kozhikode.
• It will offer women entrepreneurs incubation, a fully automated private and shared office spaces and many more facilities.

The Kerala government has announced that it is building an International Women’s Trade Centre to boost entrepreneurship. The centre that will be ready in 2021 in Kozhikode is in line with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The project comes under the Gender Park initiative by the Department of Social Justice.

“The project comes at a time when more and more women are foraying into entrepreneurship and exploring other self-employment options in Kerala. This forward-looking venture will fulfill the need for providing a platform to help women break the glass ceiling by overcoming social barriers in their way and forge ahead as successful entrepreneurs,” said Minister for Health and Social Justice Smt. K K Shailaja.

Hoping to be a safe space for women, the centre will offer women entrepreneurs incubation, a fully-automated private and shared office spaces and even accommodation to stay over. It will also have creches and senior community centres.

The centre, which in its pilot year will help flood affected women in sustainability by providing them with opportunities for livelihood and entrepreneurship, will also have retail outlets, health and wellness centres and even a dedicated cultural space for performing arts.

In January this year, Kerala also announced one of the country’s biggest startup hubs covering an area of 1.82 lakh sq ft in Kalamassery, an industrial area in Kochi. It also has plans to expand it to 5 lakh sq ft to make it Asia’s largest hub for technology.

The state’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had then said that the government wants to make Kerala one of the world’s top IT destinations.

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