In collaboration with EDB, the ITC SheTrades Project ‘Economic Empowerment of Women in the Indian Ocean Rim Association Countries’ (IORA Project) will organize a workshop for 100 women-owned/-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka. The workshop will take place on November 29 from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm at the EDB auditorium.
The workshop aims to increase women entrepreneurs’ financial literacy and legal awareness, two of the most crucial bottlenecks faced by women businesses in the country. This workshop will be held within the scope of ITC’s SheTrades global initiative that aims to connect one million women entrepreneurs to market by 2020.
Women-owned/-led businesses represent between one-quarter and one-third of enterprises in the world, but are largely invisible in the global value chains. Research has shown that fewer women are engaged in international trade than businesses owned by men. Women-owned/-led businesses often have less number of employees and lack the resources to expand into international markets. In addition, cultural and legal barriers largely contribute for the under representation of women-owned/-led businesses in international trade.
Efforts by women entrepreneurs to enter global value chains and upgrade their businesses into higher value activities are restricted by several factors. For instance, limited access to finance poses more constraints to women than men, since women have less assets and reputational collateral to access finance. Thus, it is essential to facilitate better access to finance for women-owned/-led businesses to expand their businesses to reach to international markets.
Another common barrier faced by women-led SMEs is the limited access to legal information. Higher consultancy charges for legal advice and lack of awareness about the regulatory frameworks related to businesses act as discouraging factors for the women to seek legal consultation related to business activities.
Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Government of Australia (DFAT), ITC SheTrades is organizing the workshop in collaboration with the EDB, as well as the Hatton National Bank of Sri Lanka and the D.L. & F. De Saram Legal Advisors, which will provide their representatives as resource persons.
Women-owned/-led SMEs are highly encouraged to participate in this workshop. More information could be obtained from emails patapaththu@intracen.org and Vajira Kularathna at vajira@edb.gov.lk.
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