Promoting Business and Leadership for Women Entrepreneurs
In recent years, the Party, the State, our province and the Women's Union at all levels have implemented many practical programs to support women in general and ethnic minority women in particular, including the GREAT sub-project. The GREAT project is a technical assistance project with the overall objective of enhancing the power, socio-economic status and adaptability of women in ethnic communities in Son La province. In Son La province, Phase 2 of the Project will be implemented from 2022 - 2027 in all districts and cities of the province.
Ms. Quang Thi Van, Vice President of the Provincial Women's Union, said: By the end of 2024, more than 1,500 ethnic minority women had received livelihood support, access to preferential credit and vocational training through the GREAT project. The Women's Union at all levels in Son La province has advised, coordinated and implemented the establishment of 737 economic models, including 128 collective models and 609 individual models, focusing on the agricultural sector; at the provincial level alone, 19 typical economic development models have been established.
Through these models, many women have become advanced, confident, proactive examples of economic development, taking control of their lives and spreading values in the community. For example, Ms. Vu Thi Minh Phuong, Group 8, Quyet Thang Ward, Son La City, has succeeded in turning the unique dish of the Thai ethnic group in Son La into a favorite specialty. The product "Thanh Phuong Smoked Buffalo Meat" was recognized by the Provincial People's Committee as a typical rural industrial product at the provincial level in 2023.
Ms. Vu Minh Phuong, Director of Thanh Phuong One Member Co., Ltd., shared: Since 2019, I started selling buffalo jerky products. When I had a stable number of customers, my family invested in buying a drying oven, vacuum sealer, cold storage, meat rolling machine, meat grinder, etc. The products were selected by the province to display at domestic booths and fairs, and sales increased compared to the previous year. Currently, I hope to be supported in connecting and expanding the consumption market, ensuring stable output.
However, through the DDCI survey, it shows that 84.5% of female business and cooperative owners reported that they did not regularly receive support information, which is higher than that of men. In addition, the rate of female entrepreneurs being invited to dialogue is also lower than that of men, reflecting limitations in their networking and proactive participation. The rate of female-owned businesses, cooperatives, and business households reporting profits is lower than that of men, with 65% of female-owned business households making profits compared to 74.43% of men. Similarly, 73.08% of female-owned businesses and cooperatives were profitable, lower than the male group at 77.82%. The break-even rate of women is also higher, indicating that they face many difficulties in expanding their business and accessing support resources.
Taking advantage of the local climate and landscape, Ms. Ha Thi Khuyen, Phu Mau village, Chieng Yen commune, Van Ho district, invested in homestay business. This is a typical example of successful digital transformation within the framework of the IDAP Program. Right from the beginning, Ms. Khuyen proactively approached technology and digital tools. She learned how to write and post articles introducing her homestay on Facebook, Zalo, and proactively learned English to better serve international guests. Notably, after only 4 basic training sessions on digital business, she confidently used ChatGPT to create promotional content on her fanpage. Thanks to her perseverance and efforts, the fanpage of Homestay Ha Khuyen has gained more followers and started accepting bookings via social networks.
Not only stopping at content creation, Ms. Khuyen also realized the broader benefits of digital transformation in business management and development. She learned and applied the ezCloud platform - a national service provider supported by the program - to professionalize homestay operations through a cloud-based accommodation management system.
Ms. Ha Thi Khuyen shared: I have digitized local cultural heritage values about traditional fruit making and incorporated them into interactive cultural experience tours. Activities such as tea picking, bamboo weaving and handicrafts help visitors better understand ethnic culture and at the same time create more income for the local community, including people with disabilities.
Although Ms. Ha Thi Khuyen and Ms. Vu Thi Minh Phuong have initially achieved success in business, it is not really sustainable. From there, DDCI Son La 2024 was deployed to review the Government's services and policies on the level of accessibility, benefits and empowerment for businesses including businesses run by disadvantaged groups (women, ethnic minority women, the elderly, people with disabilities, etc.).
According to the survey, enterprises, cooperatives, and business households owned by women face more difficulties in accessing information and support policies. Specifically, female business owners have less opportunities to participate in training; do not regularly receive support information; the rate of female entrepreneurs invited to dialogue is low... In general, the DDCI assessment shows that the professional quality and service attitude of officials have a direct impact on business satisfaction, but have not yet met expectations.
Raising awareness and responding to gender
Ms. Le Thi Hong Anh, Director of the Provincial Center for Investment, Trade and Tourism Promotion, said: Raising awareness and responding to current gender issues, the GREAT 2 Son La Project has proposed the Project “Promoting business and leadership for female entrepreneurs in Son La”. The main partner is the Provincial Women's Union, which is coordinating with technical partners Green Development Support Company Limited (GREEN U) and I Change Center Company Limited to implement the sub-project activities.
The sub-project plan has 29 activities, of which: 12 activities have been completed, reaching 41.4%; 4 activities are being implemented and 13 activities have not been implemented. In April, a business acceleration lever competition was held for female entrepreneurs participating in acceleration and a business promotion seed competition for female entrepreneurs participating in incubation: There were 32 participating units, including: 12 enterprises and cooperatives in the incubation group and 20 enterprises and cooperatives in the business acceleration group.
In addition, the proposal “Improving financial access and enhancing financial education for ethnic minority women and low-income groups (A2FII): The main partner is the Vietnam Rural Enterprise Development Center (Viet ED) and the project co-implementing partner is the Social Policy Bank, Loc Phat Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank (formerly Lien Viet Post Joint Stock Commercial Bank).
Coordinate with Project Management Consultant and technical partners to finalize and sign a memorandum of understanding with the Provincial Women's Union. Survey the value chain of bamboo shoots and coffee in Van Ho and Mai Son districts to develop and complete appropriate lending products. Develop priority financial education content for Loc Phat Bank and the Social Policy Bank for the banks to implement themselves or through the Women's Union in a sustainable manner...
Gender responsiveness in management, businesses owned by ethnic minority women and people with disabilities still face difficulties in accessing land, need relationships to access information and lack opportunities to expand. Information transparency is still limited, especially on investment projects, bidding, and public procurement, causing difficulties in accessing business opportunities.
Government information channels are not effective and do not provide good support for women businesses, especially ethnic minority women and people with disabilities, to access capacity building and production support programs from the state. The voices of women businesses and people with disabilities are limited in dialogue and policy consultation, affecting the ability to reflect actual needs. Supply chain connection support programs have not met expectations, limiting market development.
Dr. Le Duy Binh, economist and Director of Economica Vietnam, said that in order to promote gender equality, in the coming time, governments at all levels need to raise awareness and respond to gender, ethnic and cultural diversity to better serve women, ethnic minorities and other vulnerable groups. This includes a series of specific policies and programs such as: Commitment and training of staff on customer service skills to improve responsiveness to women and ethnic minorities; ensuring targeted outreach and communication to women and ethnic minorities in promoting government programs and policies; building a favorable environment for businesses and the capacity of women business owners.
Along with that, Son La province continues to direct departments, branches and local authorities to create conditions for women to participate in value chains to expand investment opportunities and business cooperation; support policies to improve women's access to finance, link business support with social protection to enhance economic resilience during economic crisis and difficulties; improve platforms for women to express their concerns and priorities to the government along with effective feedback mechanisms and promote women's participation in leadership positions through training programs and management skills development.
Source: https://baosonla.vn/kinh-te/nang-cao-quyen-nang-cho-phu-nu-va-doi-tuong-yeu-the-trong-kinh-doanh-VacW2lfNg.html
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