Informal Working Group on MSMEs

Informal Working Group on Trade and Gender

Proposal on A COMPENDIUM ON educational programmes for women entrepreneurs

Communication from the Russian Federation

The following communication, dated 28 June 2024, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of the Russian Federation.

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1  Background

1.1.  Micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (hereinafter – MSMEs) play a major role in economies around the world, and female entrepreneurs represent a significant part of MSMEs owners and workers. However, according to a most recent research, men continue to participate in entrepreneurship at higher rates than women.[1] Many women around the world still face barriers while starting up and running their businesses. According to the available statistics, women entrepreneurs own 22% of micro-enterprises and 32% of small and medium enterprises.[2] The total MSME finance gap for women is estimated to be valued at USD 1.7 trillion.[3]

1.2.  Globally more than 30% of women entrepreneurs work within traditionally female sectors, wholesale, health, education and social services sectors, which are characterized by lower returns.[4] Key factors that hinder the participation of more women entrepreneurs in formal or larger sectors include, among others, social and cultural aspects, prejudicial perception of female entrepreneurs, additional family responsibilities and insufficient access to finance.[5]

1.3.  However, the most basic challenge that prevents many women-entrepreneurs from effectively participating in international trade and unleashing their full entrepreneurial potential is the lack of proper business-related education and training, as well as lack of access to the necessary information.[6] The effective provision of entrepreneurship educational and training programs, with a focus on general, yet critical literacy issues, such as finance, digital management, marketing, law, and market regulation, is crucial in this regard.

1.4.  By offering tailored educational and training programs for female entrepreneurs, many of the existing disparities in entrepreneurship can be addressed, thus creating a more inclusive and diverse business environment. Therefore, specific areas in which women entrepreneurs are in the greatest need of developing skills and knowledge have to be identified.

2  Identifying areas, where women-oriented educational programs are needed

2.1.  Identifying specific areas where women entrepreneurs are in the greatest need of developing skills and knowledge is crucial for designing effective educational and training programs that cater to their unique challenges and barriers. By understanding these specific needs, targeted support can be provided to women entrepreneurs that can help them overcome the hurdles they face in starting and growing their businesses, including MSMEs.

2.2.  Some key areas where women entrepreneurs often require additional support and development include, among others, access to trade finance, learning how to effectively navigate in the sphere of electronic commerce and means for intellectual property rights protection.

2.1  Access to Trade Finance

2.3.  According to the World Bank, about 70% of formal women-owned SMEs in developing countries cannot get the capital they need, which results in a respective USD 300 billion annual credit deficit.[7] Capacity building for women-led and women-owned SMEs, coupled with awareness and training programs for banks on the specific needs and challenges faced by women in accessing trade finance, could be part of solving this problem. Financial education is considered to be the most promising opportunity to address this issue by 80% of national development banks and over 70% of public development banks.[8]

2.2  Electronic Commerce

2.4.  E-commerce empowers women entrepreneurs to navigate work-life balance more effectively
and overcome social biases and/or personal self-doubt that may have hindered their participation in international (or even domestic) trade. At the same time, numerous challenges exist, including, primarily, digital literacy, that can pose a significant barrier to entry for women entrepreneurs.

2.5.  Hence, it is particularly important for women-entrepreneurs to learn how to effectively participate in this sphere since e-commerce may help to break down traditional barriers, provide greater control and flexibility over businesses and offer access to valuable data and insights.

2.3  Protection of Intellectual Property (IP) rights

2.6.  According to WIPO, only about 16%[9] in 2022 and 17.7% in 2023[10] of patent applications under the WIPO Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) were filed by women. By taking action now
to enable and support women innovators, their innovation potential can be truly unlocked, which
in turn would facilitate the strengthening of IP and innovation ecosystems, as well as higher economic growth.[11] Many national IP offices around the world are implementing initiatives aimed
at supporting women on their path in the field of IP, including respective educational programs. Some of the initiatives also include the provision of free legal assistance to women entrepreneurs
in the preparation and filing of patent applications.

3  Some examples of the existing practices aimed at supporting women entrepreneurs

3.1  Russia

3.1.  The Russian Federation's National Strategy for Women 2023-2030 aims at "increasing women's participation in priority areas of the country's socio-economic development, including the formation of new points of economic growth" by organizing respective trainings to help women develop new competencies and qualifications in the field of entrepreneurship. The "Mama-Entrepreneur" program is one of such educational programs, which is designed specifically for women on maternity leave and those with under-age children to help them start their own business and effectively combine caretaking for the family and professional self-realization.

3.2.  The Women's Entrepreneurship Development project successfully operates within the framework of the Russia-hosted Eurasian Women's Forum. The project is aimed at development of women's entrepreneurship potential in the digital economy, providing women entrepreneurs with access to information, finance and markets. It includes a large number of domestic and international activities, particularly educational programs and trainings.

3.2  International organizations

3.3.  Many international organizations are focused on promoting trade inclusiveness and supporting women-led MSMEs. In July 2023 the ILO finalized the compendium containing the results of the ILO-WED collaborative program called "Creating a conducive environment for women's entrepreneurship development", providing an overview of 19 ILO projects supporting women's entrepreneurship. Several programs were united under the branch of "Developing Knowledge, Confidence and Skills", showing that various educational projects help to address both common challenges to the women-led MSMEs and specific regional issues. Furthermore, different training courses and improving access to entrepreneurship education for women became a universal tool for tackling various barriers.

3.4.  Another example is the launch by UNCTAD in 2019 of the 'eTrade for Women'[12] initiative that is premised on the need to harness the transformative power of women entrepreneurship to accelerate inclusive growth and contribute to poverty reduction. This initiative seeks to empower digital women entrepreneurs in developing economies to thrive as leaders of the digital transformation and emerge as influential voices in the public policy debate. It conducts activities along four strategic action lines: advocacy, capacity-building, community-building and policy dialogue.

3.5.  Intergovernmental forums, including the G20, have also dedicated considerable attention to the issue of promoting women-entrepreneurs' participation in international trade. For instance, in 2017 a Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative[13] was launched. During the 2023 Indian G20 presidency and the work undertaken at the Trade and Investment Working Group, Members came up with the Jaipur Call for Action. It aims at enhancing the access of MSMEs, including women-owned or women-led ones, to information to ensure their better integration in global trade.

3.6.  BRICS are also dedicating particular attention to this issue. For instance, BRICS Women's Business Alliance aims at promoting women's entrepreneurship and women's potential in the BRICS countries. A number of documents were issued as part of the work of the Alliance: Collected Success Compendium of Women Entrepreneurs 2021, Toolkit "Women Economic Empowerment in BRICS: Policies, Achievements, Challenges and Solutions", BRICS Women's Development Report, etc.

3.7.  Economies of the APEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy regularly come up with initiatives on women entrepreneurship education and training. One of the recent projects is dedicated to empowering women-owned and led MSMEs in the creative industries (CI) and promoting their inclusion to the international trade. Through conducting a profound research and holding an expert seminar the project is aimed at providing regionally-oriented capacity-building for women entrepreneurs.

4  Proposal

4.1.  Given the abovementioned, Russia proposes to develop a Compendium on educational and training programs (both national and international) that are aimed at promoting the participation of women entrepreneurs in international trade.

4.2.  This Compendium could be useful for Governments and policy-makers of the WTO Members in the process of drafting national policies aimed at fostering women-owned and women-led MSMEs development and female entrepreneurship capacity building.

5  Way forward

5.1.  To initiate a discussion in the WTO Informal Working Groups on MSMEs and on Trade and Gender on Members' approaches to education and training for female entrepreneurs and to identify which specific needs should be addressed by such training programs.

5.2.  Based on such discussions, to develop a compendium on the existing educational and training programs of the Members of the WTO Informal Working Groups on MSMEs and on Trade and Gender, aimed at promoting and facilitating women entrepreneurship potential.

5.3.  To ask international organizations that are observers in these Groups to contribute to the development of the compendium and share their respective experiences.

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