From goodwill to preparedness: Pakistan’s leading business federation joins CBI’s global network
The Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry has become the 23rd Member Network of the Connecting Business Initiative, opening a new chapter for structured private sector engagement in humanitarian preparedness, response and resilience in Pakistan.
When disaster strikes, businesses are often among the first to step forward.
They offer transport, warehouses, communications, food, technical expertise, financial support and, perhaps most importantly, deep connections to the communities and markets where crises unfold. But goodwill alone does not guarantee an effective response. The real difference comes when those capacities are understood, connected and ready to be mobilized before an emergency happens.
That idea was at the heart of the launch of the Federation of Pakistan Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FPCCI) as the newest Member Network of the Connecting Business Initiative (CBI) on 13 August 2026.
With FPCCI joining as CBI’s 23rd Member Network worldwide, Pakistan’s business community is now part of a growing global community of business networks working alongside humanitarian and disaster management actors to strengthen preparedness, response, recovery and resilience.
CBI, a joint initiative of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), supports local and national business networks to organize before crises, coordinate when emergencies occur and contribute their expertise to longer-term recovery and resilience.
For Pakistan, the partnership creates a more structured bridge between a nationwide business network and the humanitarian system.
Turning business capacity into coordinated action
At the launch, FPCCI President Atif Ikram Sheikh set out an ambitious vision for the partnership: mobilizing FPCCI’s nationwide chamber and corporate social responsibility networks in support of disaster response, resilience and anticipatory action.
A key part of that vision is knowing what the private sector can offer before those capabilities are urgently needed. FPCCI plans to work with OCHA and CBI to map private sector resources and expertise against humanitarian priorities — from logistics, transport and warehousing to food, medicines, construction, telecommunications, financial services and skilled human resources.
Then UN Resident Coordinator for Pakistan Mohamed Yahya welcomed FPCCI into the CBI community, emphasizing that the private sector’s willingness to contribute during emergencies has rarely been the main challenge. The greater hurdle is ensuring that businesses have clear channels through which to engage and that their support is connected to national and humanitarian priorities. The new partnership is intended to help create those channels while complementing national leadership and existing disaster preparedness and response arrangements.
Preparing now for the next emergency
FPCCI Vice President and CBI main focal person Ms. Qurrat-ul-Ain outlined a practical roadmap for turning the new membership into action. The proposed model includes establishing a national and provincial coordination platform, with focal points across Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan.
FPCCI also plans to develop a live mapping of private sector capacities across priority industries, with specific attention to the role that small and medium-sized enterprises and women-led businesses can play.
Preparedness is another central pillar. FPCCI and OCHA plan to organize orientation sessions and simulation exercises at national and provincial levels so that relationships and procedures can be tested before the next emergency. One of the partnership’s most concrete ambitions is the development of a 72-hour business activation protocol. Under the proposed mechanism, priority humanitarian needs could be rapidly communicated to FPCCI, which would in turn mobilize relevant chambers and companies with the capacity to respond.
A partnership that reaches beyond Pakistan
Joining CBI also connects FPCCI to a wider community of business networks around the world. Peer exchange is a core part of the CBI model. Member Networks share practical experience on topics ranging from business continuity and emergency logistics to anticipatory action, disaster risk reduction and private sector coordination.
For FPCCI, that creates opportunities to learn from approaches tested elsewhere — and, over time, to share Pakistan’s own experience and innovations with other networks facing similar risks.
Growing a global community of prepared businesses
For CBI, the addition of FPCCI represents another step in expanding the reach of locally led private sector preparedness and humanitarian engagement. Each new Member Network brings something different to the global community: knowledge of local markets, trusted relationships with businesses, convening power and an understanding of how crises affect economies and communities on the ground.
