MINERVA BC NEWMAN
CEBU CITY โ The 2021 Mastercard Index Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) found women in the Philippines as one of the most resilient entrepreneurs for the third consecutive year across 65 economies over the last two years despite setbacks posed by COVID-19.
The Mastercard study showed that women in the Philippines have fared particularly well in making entrepreneurial progress, despite significant social-cultural and infrastructural barriers threatening to impede their growth.
Lack of government SME support, poor access to entrepreneurial finances and a severe lack of education opportunities remain the major constraints to advancing womenโs entrepreneurship in the Philippines and Asiaโs lower-middle-income economies overall.
Despite the comparatively lower participation of women in the workforce, the Philippines remained a global leader for the third consecutive year when it comes to womenโs advancement outcomes and are just as driven by opportunity as women in highly business conducive environments.
Simon Calasanz, Country Manager, Philippines, Mastercard said, women entrepreneurs in the Philippines are a critical part of the countryโs economic recovery. Hence, there is a need to ensure that women entrepreneurs, especially owners of smaller businesses, have access to the knowledge, resources, and tools they need to thrive and scale.
Calasanz added that across the world, Mastercard is working with key partners in the public and private sectors to provide 25 million women entrepreneurs with payments technologies and access to initiatives like the companyโs Digital Acceleration program to help them participate in the digital economy and become more resilient.
MIWEโs latest report has also revealed an encouraging trend for womenโs entrepreneurship in Southeast Asian economies such as the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Women in these economies were seen engaging in high levels of entrepreneurship, sometimes at parity with men, even though the environment in which they operate remains entrenched with challenges.
Best places in the world for women entrepreneurs are in Asia Pacific
Six economies from the Asia Pacific region have found their place on MIWE 2021โs global leaderboard for being the best places in the world for women entrepreneurs. New Zealand, Australia, and Taiwan have emerged as the regional leaders, propelled by strong scores across all three components that constitute MIWE: womenโs advancement outcomes, knowledge assets, and financial access.
These economies continue to furnish the conditions required to facilitate womenโs access to financial support and services and their ability to start, operate, thrive, and adapt to the market circumstances.
In these economies where the entrepreneurial ecosystem is enabling, women were driven by the pursuit of new opportunities emerging from the pandemic, demonstrating a proactive and upbeat entrepreneurial attitude that will be vital in supporting economic recovery and long-term growth.
In Singapore and Taiwan, access to finance ranked higher than anywhere else in the world, while New Zealand topped global rankings for having the most supportive entrepreneurial conditions. On average, high-income economies in Asia Pacific scored higher in providing a dynamic landscape for women entrepreneurs, unhindered by access to finances and opportunities.
However, in certain high-income economies, such as Japan, women continue to be underrepresented economically and have a limited presence in the business scene.
Gender-focused policies, financial inclusion key to womenโs entrepreneurial success
Although MIWE points to the pandemic being particularly taxing on women, fewer than 10 percent of COVID-19 recovery measures implemented worldwide include gender-sensitive strategies.
In economies such as Canada and Argentina, womenโs progress has been positively influenced by gender-focused policies implemented to address womenโs economic security during the pandemic.ย ย Likewise, in Asia, women entrepreneurs in Thailand, Singapore, and Taiwan have benefited from initiatives aimed at supporting not them directly but small enterprises where they are highly represented.
Such correlation proves that government policies that intentionally influence womenโs entrepreneurship can meaningfully contribute to a swifter recovery.
As part of Mastercardโs commitment to creating a world where women entrepreneurs are equally represented and supported, the company made a global commitment to connect 25 million women entrepreneurs to the digital economy by 2025.
The 5th edition of MIWE examined womenโs progress in the global entrepreneurship landscape over the last two years encompassing 65 economies and 82.4 percent of the global female labor force.
