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COVER STORY

Dismantling Additional support and policies are needed
from the government to allow Vietnam’s female
entrepreneurs to compete on an equal footing
barriers as the world changes.

T KHANH CHI REPORTS

mall- and medium-sized enterprises in Vietnam is supported by the long-standing been consistently pursued over many decades.”
(SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to policies of the government as regards gender Dr. Greeni Maheshwari, a lecturer at
S economic crises, especially the unprece- equality, according to Dr. Binh. “It is especially RMIT’s School of Business and Management,
dented Covid-19 outbreak, and within the due to the policy of promoting women’s par- also sees that the government has framed a
broader universe of SMEs, women-owned ticipation in education, training, employment, number of reforms to support SMEs and
enterprises are even more exposed. A 2019 and politics, which was adopted during the especially female entrepreneurs. “Vietnam
study by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce very first days of the country’s independence,” has made impressive progress in terms of
and Industry (VCCI) found that women- he said. “We wouldn’t have the generation of women-owned enterprises over recent years,”
owned small businesses have, on average, women entrepreneurs we have today without she said. “State policies have been helpful in
loan terms that are 16 per cent shorter than policies on equality in education and training, promoting female entrepreneurship.”
SMEs owned by men, despite posting com- access to opportunities, and women’s social To narrow the gender gap, the government
parable business performance. and economic empowerment, which have previously set a target of 35 per cent of enter-
Such discrepancies are the product of doc-
umented biases, both conscious and uncon-
scious. The government has been called upon
to introduce a slew of sound new policies, sup-
portive regulations, and incentives for women-
owned businesses to overcome this tough
period and recover in the “new normal”.

Female entrepreneurship thrives
Women-owned businesses account for 25
per cent of the total number in Vietnam;
higher than in South Asia, the Middle East,
North Africa, and Sub-Saharan Africa. Women-
owned SMEs play a vital role in the country’s
economic development and growth. Hundreds
of thousands of female-owned businesses
employ millions of workers from north to
south and women entrepreneurs have a pres-
ence in each and every economic sector.
One can readily find women CEOs, presi-
dents, or senior executive directors at major
companies like REE, Vinamilk, HDBank, Viet-
jet Air, TH True Milk, and Nova Paint, and
many other companies have grown to become
major market players under the leadership
of female bosses. “With FDI flowing in, Viet-
namese women have also taken on top jobs
at multinational corporations (MNCs) in Viet-
nam and have moved up the career ladder,
becoming senior managers at regional offices
or headquarters,” said Dr. Le Duy Binh, Man-
aging Director of Economica Vietnam.
The higher percentage of women-owned
businesses and active women business leaders

18 | VIETNAM ECONOMIC TIMES | MARCH 2021