A total of 35 women entrepreneurs from across the 10 ASEAN Member States and Japan convened in Lao PDR 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 Organisations, with support from the ASEAN Coordinating Committee on MSMEs, ASEAN ACCESS, the East Asia Business Advisory Council and the Lao Businesswomen Association.
The discussions 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.
It also helped 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.
During the event, 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.
The women entrepreneurs also touched on closing the gender divide in the MSME landscape and promoting sustainability practices that empower women to lead socially and environmentally responsible businesses.
The participants also joined site visits to 2 leading women-owned enterprises in Lao PDR, specifically Enterprise & Development Consultants Co Ltd and Leuxay Construction Co Ltd, offering 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.
Several women highlighted the challenges of accessing grants and loans, specifically for women entrepreneurs, caused by administrative regulations, competition against bigger companies and the 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.
