The Vietnamese government needs to take further measures enable women to realise their full potential as entrepreneurs, said Director of International Labour Organisation (ILO) Country Office for Vietnam Rie Vejs-Kjeldgaard.

The ILO official’s remarks was made at the National Workshop on Successful Strategies for Women’s Entrepreneurship Development in Hanoi on March 18. She said the active support from the government in improving legal environment for business activities through implementing the Gender Equality Law and other decrees will be very important to create dynamic business environment for both men and women entrepreneurs.

The General Statistics Office estimated that about 25 percent of leaders and chief executive officers in Vietnamese enterprises in all economic sectors are women, and 30 percent of the incorporated small and medium enterprises are owned by women.

Despite these contributions, women entrepreneurs continue facing significant gender-related challenges in setting up and expanding their businesses. They tend to be in a less favourable position compared to men when it comes to accessing commercial credit, human resource development and vocational training.

Nguyen Tuyet Minh, Vice Chairwoman of the Women Entrepreneur Council under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said Vietnam has received support from various international organisations in the past time, especially the ILO.

The ILO and VCCI have implemented an Irish-funded project on Women Entrepreneurship Development and Gender Equality in Quang Nam and Phu Tho provinces. The project helped raise awareness on women entrepreneurs development and gender equality for heads of local administrations, neutral organisations and business service development suppliers./.