As a developing country, it is critical for the economy to capture the contribution of its 30 million female citizens, Myanmar Women Entrepreneurs’ Association vice president Daw Thet Thet Khine told the forum.
“Women have qualities and can make contributions [to the economy] but are still left behind because of traditional practices,” Dr Daw Thet Thet Khine said. “In the private sector, you rarely see women in senior positions.”
“[Success] is a challenge for businesswomen who are overloaded with family responsibilities. That’s why family is of paramount importance.”
She said advances in family planning had given women the power to control their lives. “My grandmother was one of 16 children. My mother was one of eight ... I have only one child. This gives us some room [to enter business],” she said.
Daw Thet Thet Khine highlighted Singapore as a positive example of creating an empowering arena for women entrepreneurs by encouraging entrepreneurship through grants, streamlined business registration and family-friendly labour laws.
“If we want to develop the whole country we don’t want to exclude women. By ignoring female entrepreneurship, we will cut out half the country’s contribution,” she said.
Tourism entrepreneur Daw Khin Sanda Win agreed that tradition was a hurdle.
“We need old laws repealed and new laws to enhance women [alongside] our traditional way of living,” she said.
Daw Khin Sanda Win said medical and communications technology could benefit women entrepreneurs. “Once I could not have a fax machine because I needed special permission,” she said. “Sometimes it would take the phone shop two hours to get a line for me to make a one-minute phone call to order more cement for the hotel.”
Both financial opportunity and technological assistance are becoming increasingly accessible for budding entrepreneurs, Daw Khin Sanda Win said.
“Doing business is still a great challenge. [Myanmar] was isolated for 50 years We have to start from the very bottom,” she said.
“In the countryside, women are responsible for daily livelihood,” and this innate business sense makes them ideal candidates for launching their own businesses, Daw Khin Sanda Win said.
But for true success, women needed the support of the men in their families, Daw Thet Thet Khine said, adding, “The family needs to encourage women, and workplaces need to create a family-friendly work environment.”
source: The Myanmar Times
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