Cambodian and Indonesian entrepreneurs discuss the role of women as drivers of economic growth

Cambodian and Indonesian entrepreneurs discuss the role of women as drivers of economic growth

The Indonesian Embassy in Phnom Penh hosted a webinar last week featuring Cambodian and Indonesian female entrepreneurs discussing how to better foster communication about the challenges women in business face.

The webinar’s five panelists explored their thoughts on the importance of women as drivers of economic growth and how it can be enhanced.

About 60 percent of all private business owners in the Kingdom are women, the majority of whom operate micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), according to World Bank data. A similar number of women, 53.76 percent, operate MSMEs in Indonesia and female entrepreneurs contribute some 60 percent to the country’s gross domestic product.

Dewi Motik Pramono, founder of the Chairwoman of Indonesian Business Association said, “A woman is just a man with lipstick on, there is no difference. We have an equal role and equal competence and close collaboration between Indonesian and Cambodian [entrepreneurs] is very important because there are a lot of different things that we can work on together.”

Pramono heads several business initiatives, including a motorcycle workshop and is a pioneer of the rickshaw industry in Indonesia. She stressed that the pandemic and technological innovation had resulted in a perfect storm that can drive female economic inclusion.

Noting that large supermarkets and department stores are having trouble coping with the high number of women using social media or e-commerce channels to promote their businesses, Pramono said that entrepreneurs should coordinate and create channels so that Cambodian and Indonesian businesswomen can communicate more efficiently.

She also said that education is critical for women to reach their entrepreneurial aspirations, saying that women needed additional training to be more tech-savvy and needed help to perform basic tasks like filling out forms so that products can be exported abroad.

“Mostly, women open MSMEs. Because of the limited knowledge, the businesses that women operate do not really improve,” said Keo Mom, president of the Cambodia Women Entrepreneurs Association (CWEA).

CWEA has more than 700 members across several industries, including trade, service, tourism, manufacturing, agriculture and finance. Some 20,000 women are a part of the association.

“When business owners have a problem with their businesses and need help from the government, we help them gather the right information and request that the government help them grow their business through training courses or other measures,” she said.

Mom is also chairwomen of LyLy Kameda Co Ltd. The company is perhaps best known for its food products, with its rice crackers being a staple in pantries across the Kingdom.

“Women in the past often [followed] the Khmer custom of being a housewife and did not enjoy the same education [as men]. They would usually have to start a business from their home or in a market and were unable to travel too far like men,” Mom said.

Leom Lida, founder of Support Her Enterprise Investment Co Ltd (SHE Investment), said that she too had an uphill battle convincing people that she had the ability to realise her entrepreneurial dreams.

“When my family said that they did not trust me [when I left home], I wondered ‘Why? I have so much potential, I can do many things’,” she said.

SHE Investment offers incubator services for fledgling companies to help them grow and investment readiness programmes to help them grow further.

As a part of its Covid-19 response, Lida said that her organisation had introduced a digital resource centre to help women access customers and digital literacy training programmes to provide computer training.

“For some of the women, it is their first time touching a computer,” Lida said, noting that more than 100 women have received digital literacy training.

SHE Investment has driven more than $3 million in income across all its beneficiaries. Khmer Times