Workshop on financial accounting and legal regulations for women-led SMEs tomorrow

In collaboration with the Export Development Board (EDB), the ITC SheTrades Project ‘Economic Empowerment of Women in the Indian Ocean Rim Association Countries’ (IORA Project) will organise a workshop for 100 women-owned and women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sri Lanka. 

The workshop will take place tomorrow from 8.30 a.m. to 5.00 p.m. at the EDB auditorium. 

The workshop aims to increase women entrepreneurs’ financial literacy and legal awareness, two of the most crucial bottlenecks faced by women businesses in the country. This workshop will be held within the scope of ITC’s SheTrades global initiative that aims to connect one million women entrepreneurs to the market by 2020.

Businesses headed by women represent between one-quarter and one-third of enterprises in the world, but are largely invisible in global value chains. Research has shown that fewer women are engaged in international trade than businesses owned by men. Women-owned businesses often have a fewer number of employees and lack the resources to expand into international markets. In addition, cultural and legal barriers largely contribute to the underrepresentation of women-owned businesses in international trade. Efforts by women entrepreneurs to enter global value chains and upgrade their businesses into higher value activities are restricted by several factors. For instance, limited access to finance poses more constraints to women than men since women have fewer assets and reputational collateral to access finance. Thus, it is essential to facilitate better access to finance for women-owned businesses to expand their businesses to reach out to international markets. 

Another common barrier faced by women-led SMEs is the limited access to legal information. Higher consultancy charges for legal advice and a lack of awareness about the regulatory frameworks related to businesses act as discouraging factors for women to seek legal consultation related to business activities. By identifying these obstacles faced by the women in businesses, this workshop aims to facilitate information on access to finance and legal regulation with the aim of increasing their integration in international markets.

Funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Government of Australia (DFAT), ITC SheTrades is organising the workshop in collaboration with EDB as well as Hatton National Bank, Sri Lanka and D.L. & F. De Saram Legal Advisors, which will provide their representatives as resource persons. 

Women-owned SMEs are highly encouraged to participate in this workshop by emailing Pradeepa Kulasekera on [email protected] and Vajira Kularathna on [email protected] to register.