Business-woman discussed the problems of lending to SMEs
The exchange of views took place during the panel discussion "Women in Business" within the frames of VI Central Asian Trade Forum
Female entrepreneurship plays a special role in the economic life of Central Asian countries. Governments of Central Asian, international organizations and NGOs have a great support to the good initiatives of women entrepreneurs, bringing benefit to the public. Women entrepreneurs are a source of economic growth, because through their business they generate economic and social benefits for themselves, for their families and society as a whole. Successful companies from the private sector, as a rule, establish partnerships with international organizations and NGOs in order to use their experience in the development, programming strategies and a network of useful contacts with the local community. How do states, international organizations, NGOs and business associations support women's entrepreneurship? What initiatives have become successful? Business-ladies spoke about this during VI Central Asian Trade Forum in Almaty.
During the speeches were listed the main problems, encountered business women in the process of crediting: lack of infrastructure (remote STB, development institutions in rural areas), the bureaucracy, the property (no collateral), educational (lack of professional knowledge), checks and difficulties in interaction with state bodies.
"Even those funds, which are allocated by the state to support small and medium-sized businesses, the second-tier banks are reluctant to give out. Applications for loans are considered for six months, and the process of obtaining the approved loan is cluttered by bureaucratic obstacles. The hardest thing for entrepreneurs in rural areas: real estate in the villages is not accepted as a collateral for a loan, as well as plots of land", - said president of the Association of Business Women of Kazakhstan Raushan Sarsembayeva.
Only strong and determined women entrepreneurs can strengthen the middle class in Kazakhstan. This was decided by participants of the forum. It was noted that most of women are engaged in such areas as trade, tourism and services, and through joint efforts, women have made significant progress in the business over the past three years.
"The National Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan "Atameken" render great support to ladypreneurs. The Chamber pays a special role to educational services and counseling. For example, over 700 budding and operating entrepreneurs have been trained within the program "Business Advisor" and "Business Growth" in the past year, more than half of them are women. Education in the framework of the project "Business Communication" allows entrepreneurs to improve their knowledge for free and to go for an internship to Germany to exchange experiences and to seek partners. In addition, under NCE there is a Council of Business Women, which is composed of 30 most active regional businesswomen. At the Council of Business Women of Almaty women are engaged mainly in financial services, food and light industry, education. Through the efforts of the Council in Almaty were resolved many problems of women entrepreneurs", - said the expert on international relations of the Chamber of Entrepreneurs of Almaty Akerkin Eralieva.
During the forum were also given basic indicators of women's entrepreneurship in the Republic of Kazakhstan. It turned out that women make up to 20% of GDP. It was also noted that today women are presented in the Parliament, state executive and judicial bodies, the financial sector and have become a driving force on a par with men.
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