Launch of SheTrades Policy Document - Resident Coordinator's Speech, Gita Sabharwal

Your Excellency, Kao Kim Hourn, Secretary-General, ASEAN

Amanda McLoughlin, Development Director, British Embassy 

Distinguished experts, women entrepreneurs and UN colleagues 

I am delighted to address you at today’s launch as we continue to take women entrepreneurship to the next level across Indonesia and globally in partnership with, government, women entrepreneurs and ITC.

SheTrades Outlook will be a critical tool for this as it enables policymakers to assess, monitor and improve the policy ecosystem for women in business and trade based on 55 indicators with data collected from 18 public and five private sector institutions.

This enables us to identify opportunities and challenges for women across Indonesia to access international markets, highlighting the drivers, barriers and investments required for necessary skillsets.

SheTrades Outlook can also be used to examine data gaps, prioritize areas for policy reform and share good practices.

The tool has been rolled out in 57 countries at different levels of economic development and is an accelerator of gender equality.

In Indonesia women entrepreneurs are very well placed to make a greater impact on domestic markets and enter international ones.

Nearly two-thirds of all MSMEs are led by women, a rate twice the global average.

However, challenges remain. Women-owned businesses are skewed towards micro enterprises with MSEs dominated by men, who are also far more represented in the overall workforce. 

Simultaneously, a significant gender pay gap persists with women earning 23% less than men on average. We can overcome these barriers by strengthening policy frameworks and partnering with the private sector. 

Interventions need to include strengthening support services to women starting their businesses, front-lining these businesses into international trade, and offering gender-responsive financing and skills training to women entrepreneurs.

There is also a need for women to be more closely engaged in consultation processes on trade policies, which themselves need to be more gender responsive.

Towards these goals, ITC is bringing together policymakers, business owners and women entrepreneurs to share lessons learned and insights for improvement. 

Importantly, private sector entities from international markets such as the EU, UK and US have a role to play. This is critical because analysis shows that Indonesian women tend to do business largely within ASEAN. 

As part of this, Unilever has been partnering with ITC to integrate more women-led businesses into its supplier database. 

It has also committed to enhancing the capabilities of women-led businesses to comply with the sourcing requirements of large corporations.

Business-to-business partnerships like this will create more opportunities for women to secure long-term orders for their products and services in profitable markets. 

These can translate into direct business deals worth millions of dollars, based on our experiences with other SheTrades countries such as Pakistan, Rwanda and Kenya. 

To facilitate this process in Indonesia, ITC will organize a trade mission later this year for 20 women entrepreneurs who produce textiles, footwear and handicrafts to connect directly with buyers from the UK.

At the same time, the SheTrades Indonesia Hub with 5,000 women entrepreneurs as its members supports the increased competitiveness of women-led businesses.

In one example more than 300 women weavers from villages in East Flores districts have received hands-on training to create export-quality placemats. 

The Swedish multinational IKEA has placed long-term orders for this product, ensuring livelihoods for these women and their families. 

Just as encouragingly, the newly trained weavers said they would spread their new skills to other women within their communities.

This shows that once good practices are introduced many women entrepreneurs will scale them up of their own accord in a win-win for both the economy and gender equality.

Women across Indonesia are highly creative, very motivated and economically empowered.

We can aid them in taking their rightful place on domestic and international markets with the right skills and policy tools.

Today’s event is an important step in that direction.

Terima Kasih