WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS BRING FRESH INSIGHTS INTO VIENTIANE ROUNDTABLE DISCUSSION

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 7 (Bernama) -- Thirty-five young women entrepreneurs from across the 10 ASEAN Member States and Japan convened in Lao PDR on Nov 5 to 6 to discuss challenges and opportunities related to innovation and sustainability in their enterprises.

The Roundtable Discussion of Young Women Entrepreneurs in ASEAN and Japan was organised by the ASEAN-Japan Centre in partnership with the ASEAN Youth Organization, with support from the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on MSMEs, ASEAN ACCESS, the East Asia Business Advisory Council, and the Lao Businesswomen Association.

The discussions at the Roundtable served as a pivotal platform for addressing the key barriers young women entrepreneurs face in today’s fast-evolving business landscape, particularly in achieving both innovation and sustainability in their ventures.

The programme aims to identify practical solutions to enhance the resilience and competitiveness of women-led enterprises, paving the way for greater economic empowerment and collaboration between ASEAN and Japan, according to a statement.

The event centred on two key themes, namely Enhancing Connectivity and Enhancing Resilience. For connectivity, participants explored ways to improve financial inclusion, encourage gender-smart investments, and build digital skills and financial literacy to ensure safe participation in the digital economy.

Meanwhile, under resilience, they addressed closing the gender divide in micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) ownership and promoting sustainability practices that empower women to lead socially and environmentally responsible businesses.

The participants also joined site visits to two leading women-owned enterprises in Lao PDR, specifically Enterprise & Development Consultants Co Ltd and Leuxay Construction Co Ltd. These visits offered invaluable insights into the operational strategies and best practices of successful women-owned businesses in the country, facilitating knowledge exchange and opening potential avenues for future collaboration.

The event raised the challenges of accessing grants and loans for women entrepreneurs due to administrative regulations, competition against bigger companies, and lack of flexibility of funding solutions.

The participants also called for more resilient women entrepreneur networks to support each other as a key strategy to close the gender gap towards women business ownership.

The full findings of the discussions will be launched in a report at the ASEAN-Japan Young Women Entrepreneurs’ Summit to be held in Kuala Lumpur, on Feb 13, 2025.

-- BERNAMA