On the eve of the APEC Women's Entrepreneurial Projects Competition, the Interna...
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27.09.2024 / News

On the eve of the APEC Women's Entrepreneurial Projects Competition, the International Winners Club participants put forward new initiatives

The meeting of the International Club of APEC Women's Entrepreneurial Projects Competition Winners was held within the framework of the Eurasian Women's Forum. Irina Saltykova, coordinator of the eponymous project of the EWF Council and moderator of the session, voiced a stable global trend - the number of women who have opened their own business or want to do so is growing and has reached 43% of the total share of entrepreneurs. In the BRICS countries, this figure is more modest - 23%, to reach the indicators set by the BRICS Women's Business Alliance - 45% of women in business, international cooperation is more important than ever.

The meeting discussed economic growth points and promising areas for the development of women's entrepreneurial projects, as well as tools for achieving target indicators. Guo Jienyi, Secretary General of the Beijing Association for International Exchanges, emphasized women's participation in technology projects and noted the great opportunities for the development of entrepreneurship and self-realization of women that are opening up in this area. She noted that in some business projects, women make up no more than 15%.

Another growth point named by the session participants was creative industries. Evgeniya Lazareva, the winner of the 2016 APEC competition, spoke about her experience. She started with producing clothes for children and parents in a single style. The products were promoted through city holidays and festivals, then their own music festival appeared, and then a whole universe of heroes-Mediators. Creatures that look like guitar picks have come to life in comics, cartoons, branded products, an audio series, etc.

One of the principles of the international club is to support the economy of small indigenous peoples by providing artisans with an opportunity to earn money. Session participant Rina Zoet, Deputy Chairperson of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of the Republic of Indonesia, said that folk art and craft products in her country account for 7.5% of GDP. The main market participants are women, many of whom work from home. To access global markets, Rina Zoet noted, a mentoring program and training in international entrepreneurship skills are needed.

The topic was picked up by Aiminoriza Ramli, head of the Brunei Business Women's Association. In her opinion, artisans need to create regional business communities and actively study the possibilities of artificial intelligence. This will help to adapt the products and services of local producers to external markets, making them interesting and sustainable.

Dzhennet Demidova, a patent attorney of the Russian Federation, emphasized the role and advantages of the law on creative industries adopted in Russia in August – now entrepreneurs developing intellectual products are better protected.

Another growth point for women's entrepreneurial projects was the use of natural ingredients in food production. Ensuring customer trust and safety is the main motto for successful entrepreneurs in this area.

Entrepreneur Ekaterina Postoeva, who produces soft ice cream and milkshakes, expressed her willingness to promote the best projects in the food industry. In 2019, her products won the APEC BEST AWARD Grand Prix. Consumer preferences today are leaning towards healthy and environmentally friendly products, the difficulty is that when producing such a product, it is not always possible to scale it up, noted entrepreneur Delgir Sarangova, who produces canned goods and delicacies from the meat of animals raised in Kalmykia.

Outlining plans for the near future, Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria, Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat, noted that in APEC countries women still constitute a minority in R&D, innovation, and research — their share is below 35%, and they are underrepresented in ministerial positions — 27%. She called for facilitating the integration of women-owned enterprises into the global economy and helping to find entry into new markets.

The Chairperson of the SME Committee of the United Foreign Chambers of Commerce in the Kingdom of Thailand, Nimnuan Piewthongam, voiced another problem - the absorption of small and medium-sized enterprises by large capital; we need to help them become more sustainable, she noted.

Agnessa Osipova, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Russian Franchising Association, expressed the opinion that franchising is a wonderful tool for women entrepreneurs; there are more than 1 million franchisees in Russia, and 120 “women’s” brands are sold abroad.

The APEC Women's Entrepreneurial Projects Competition "APEC BEST AWARD" activates cross-border partnerships and enables the creation of creative economy enterprises, promotes the creation of collaborations between women entrepreneurs and the development of franchising in APEC. The final of the current - ninth in a row - competition will be held online on November 1.

The experts proposed two new formats for the Club's work: to create professional unions within the community in order to communicate on a permanent basis and to develop an international franchise of projects that have won the competition in different years.