MPI & ADB RELEASE STUDY ON WOMEN SMES

The Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) last month released the first-ever study of women-owned small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam. The study, Facilitating Entrepreneurship Growth by Lifting Barriers: A White Book on Women-owned Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Vietnam, was developed by ADB in partnership with the MPI’s Agency for Enterprise Development. “Women-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can be a key driver of economic growth in

Vietnam and across the Asia-Pacific,” said Director General of the ADB’s Southeast Asia Department Winfried Wicklein. “For ADB, promoting gender equality and advancing women’s economic empowerment is a top priority, so we are very pleased to have developed this study with MPI on promoting women-led SMEs and entrepreneurship in Vietnam.” The study draws on a large body of knowledge and international best practices to produce a series of measures that can unleash the untapped potential of women-owned SMEs in Vietnam. These include establishing genderdisaggregated databases, incorporating women-owned SMEs more integrally into legislation like the Law on Gender Equality, exploring gender-specific measures to support the implementation of the Law on SME Support, and placing greater emphasis on knowledge dissemination and raising awareness to promote women entrepreneurship and women role models.