Head of the Party Central Committee's Economic Commission Nguyen Van Binh addresses the forum. (Source: qdnd.vn) Hanoi (VNA) - While the profile of Vietnamese businesswomen hasbeen raised significantly in recent years with the emergence of leaders incertain sectors, budding women entrepreneurs still have to fight with one handtied behind their backs.
Experts and officials said at a forum in Hanoi on December 14 that women stillexperienced very limited access to credit and technology despite contributingsignificantly to national growth.
At the national platform on “Women Business Start-ups: Innovation andConnection,” speakers discussed challenges and opportunities as well as policysolutions to boost female entrepreneurship and promote gender equality in thebusiness field.
The platform was organised by the Vietnam Women’s Union (VWU) and the SNVNetherlands Development Organisation.
Nguyen Van Binh, Chairman of the Party Central Committee’s Commission forEconomic Affairs, stressed the importance role women have to play in boostingbusiness start-ups in the country.
Women-led enterprises and households have greatly contributed to economicdevelopment, been a significant income source and created millions of jobs, hesaid.
“More and more Vietnamese women entrepreneurs have been ranked among the mostpowerful women in Asia by prestigious international organisations,” Binh said.
But other speakers said women faced major challenges including gender norms,limited access to resources and markets because of insufficient collateral aswell as lack of skills and knowledge of corporate governance, finance andmarketing.
Nguyen Thi Thu Ha, VWU Chairwoman, said “The proportion of women-led largeenterprises has gradually decreased, accounting for 19.8 percent, and thenumber of women-led science and technology businesses is still limited.
“In addition, the percentage of female start-ups with more than three people isjust 5.5 percent, compared to 15.7 percent for men,” she said.
While the Government has promulgated numerous incentive policies to supportwomen in business, implementation has been weak and lacked necessary guidance,Ha said.
Delegates agreed that the platform was a good place for line ministries andaspiring female entrepreneurs to exchange knowledge and experiences, especiallyin terms of difficulties and obstacles in production and business and relatedpolicies, mechanisms and transactions with State management agencies fromnational to local levels.
The platform also marked the official kick-off of the National Women-ledBusiness Start-up Programme, which will be implemented by the VWU between 2017and 2025.
The programme aims to boost women entrepreneurship and innovation in all 63provinces and cities in the country.
It will enable the VWU to strengthen its bridging role in supporting start-upsby women and encouraging their development, especially in agriculture and otherareas linked to climate change adaptation, the meeting heard.
One of the businesswomen attending the meeting was Nguyen Thi Ha, who expressedpride and happiness in helping many women earn stable incomes, either fromtheir farms or through regular jobs with consolidated farms.
Ha, who is Director of the Thanh Hung Agricultural Service and IntegratedBusiness Cooperative in Thanh Hung commune, Thach Thanh district in the centralprovince of Thanh Hoa, said they have received active support from localauthorities and high commitment from its members to function as an effectiveeconomic model.
This has helped Thanh Hung become just one of five communes in the district berecognised as new-style rural commune, she said.
The Thanh Hung cooperative was founded in September 2014. With seed fundingfrom the Vietnam Women’s Union that was invested in high capacity tractors, andcontributions from 33 members of whom six are ethnic minority women, the cooperativehas taken big strides forward, Ha said.
“The cooperative prioritises the timely provision of land preparation servicesand other inputs including pesticides and rice seedlings to members atfavourable prices,” she said.
It also offers extension services and annually leases 200ha of land to farmers.
Constant attention by the board of directors to the needs of members was thekey factor in the cooperative’s success, Ha said.
The cooperative has also created jobs for 15 women by connecting them withother large-scale agricultural farms in the commune.
“Thus cooperative members are highly motivated to contribute,” she said.
Building on its initial success, the co-operative is now developing the Hy Thiemherbal production area, complying with good agricultural practices (GAP).
“Development of the herbal production area is an innovative initiative andexpected to bring sustainable economic development for members,” Ha said.
Due to all of the aforementioned efforts, cooperative members have stableannual incomes of 50-70 million VND (2,200-3,100 USD).-VNA
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