Experts advocate women empowerment in trade to boost South Asian interregional trade & economic integration
ISLAMABAD, August 05 (SABAH): Experts at the report launch of the policy document on women in trade emphasized that empowering women in trade could facilitate interregional trade and economic integration in the South Asia region.
The Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) launched its report titled “Empowering Women in Trade—a South Asian Perspective” with the support of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF) on Monday.
Dr. Vaqar Ahmed, Joint Executive Director of SDPI and co-author of the report, in his interventions, stated that regional and free trade agreements and GSP+ should benefit women-led enterprises. “Tax policy and tax administration reforms require a gender lens to reduce the cost of doing business for women. Pakistan Single Window (PSW) and other digital economy reforms could also reduce information and market access costs. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) need closer coordination to help many women transition their businesses from the informal to the formal sector,” he said.
Dr. Arif Saleem, Faculty of Management Sciences at Islamic International University, noted that the report highlights various challenges for women in Southeast Asia, where barriers are higher than other regions. He praised the report’s robust methodology and quality assurance measures, ensuring the validity of its findings. Dr. Saleem also pointed out interesting recommendations, such as the disparity in mobile phone ownership among women in Bangladesh (57%) and in Pakistan and India (48%). Empowering women, he said, would not only boost entrepreneurship but also improve access to telecommunications and the internet, even for the illiterate in Pakistan.
Ms. Aniqa Arshad, Program Manager, Friedrich Naumann Foundation Pakistan, commended the comprehensive study by SDPI for covering many key insights across South Asia. She highlighted the indispensable role of women in trade, the challenges they face, and their achievements addressed in the report. The report, she said, identified barriers to women’s integration in trade due to social and cultural challenges, gender discrimination, mobility restrictions, and limited access to business networks. Ms. Aniqa emphasized that the private sector could support women by providing opportunities and developing women-led portfolios, which can enhance women’s roles in businesses.
Ms. Mahnoor Arshad, Research Associate and co-author of the report, delivered a detailed presentation on the study’s findings. She explained that the study focused on four key areas: how women can benefit from pre-existing trade agreements in South Asia, regional and global integration of women in trade, bottlenecks in various sectors, and the roles of public and private sectors and regulators. The methodology included data and literature review, identification of instruments, and focused group discussions with diverse stakeholders, ensuring no stakeholder was left out.
The report analyzed Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, and Pakistan and emphasized that only countries with higher gender equality levels show visible women entrepreneurship. Ms Mahnoor highlighted that trade linkages facilitated by bilateral and multilateral agreements promote trade and economic growth. Despite instruments like the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA), regional trade integration remains elusive in South Asia. The lack of inclusive trade agreements, and barriers to women entrepreneurship, lead to missed opportunities to boost trade in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
Dr. Asanka Wijesinghe, Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, Sri Lanka, emphasized the need to investigate female entrepreneurs’ roles in export productivity to devise specific interventions. International evidence shows that female entrepreneurs contribute significantly to global trade, with most in the region belonging to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), e-commerce, and local trade. He mentioned that e-commerce in Sri Lanka has a $250 million turnover, dominated by males, with only 15% female-owned enterprises in the services sector. However, female entrepreneurs have great potential to catch up.
Dr. Selim Raihan, Executive Director of the South Asian Network on Economic Modelling (SANEM), Bangladesh, cited a World Bank study with the Bangladesh Stock Exchange, revealing that women entrepreneurship in Bangladesh is linked to SMEs and microenterprises operating locally. He pointed out that women’s lack of asset ownership hinders their access to finance and funding for businesses. Dr. Raihan called for key reforms in policies, taxation, and both public and private sectors to ensure gender inclusion, addressing the gap between policies and their implementation.
Ms. Kiran Afzal, Senior Private Sector Specialist at the World Bank, stated that the report is timely and provides a roadmap for integrating women in trade. She emphasized that improving economic and trade outcomes requires women’s integration in trade value chains, which will also encourage the formality of female employment, directly boosting economic development. Ms. Kiran Afzal highlighted the importance of socio-economic policies to support women in trade and the need for better intraregional trade integration. She mentioned that women are less likely to use the internet and have less access to finance compared to men. She also noted that the underrepresentation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) impacts their career advancement.
“Asset ownership is an issue, and connectivity is also a challenge as trade is increasingly mobile. Emphasis should be placed on safe and secure mobility for women in trade and women working in tradeable industries. Improving the visa regime to facilitate women’s travel to other countries is crucial,” Ms. Kiran concluded.