Brainstorming Session on “Strengthening Capacity of Women Entrepreneurs in SMEs in Asia for Capturing Benefits of Globalization with a Special Emphasis on Sri Lanka”

IPS conducted a Brainstorming Session on “Strengthening Capacity of Women Entrepreneurs in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Asia for Capturing Benefits of Globalization with a Special Emphasis on Sri Lanka”. The aim of the discussion was to gather expert insights for a proposal of the same topic; the IPS is developing together with the Bridging the Gap Foundation Asia (BGFA). The key objective of the proposal is to strengthen national capacity to develop women entrepreneurship and strengthen Women Entrepreneurs in SMEs in targeted sectors, in selected small developing countries to participate effectively in international trade, investment and global and regional value chains using Sri Lanka as a case study.

Speaking at the event IPS Executive Director, Dr. Saman Kelegama stressed the importance of promoting women’s participation in SMEs as an important policy measure in addressing the issue of low and stagnated female labour force participation rate of the country. Dr. Ravi Ratnayake, the Secretary General of BGFA provided an introduction of the proposal. IPS Research Officer, Sunimalee Madurawala, presented background information of the proposal and the Theory of Change, the methodological approach, which is used in developing the proposal. Among the participants who joined to share their insights at the brainstorming moderated by Dr. Ratnayake were government officials, officers from chambers, top officers from financial institutions, researchers, etc.