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Growing the Field: Finance and gender experts brought together in Indonesia
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Jakarta, Indonesia, 2 February 2018 – Over 70 investors, business and finance leaders, and gender experts from Southeast Asia came together at the Australian Embassy for two days to identify, and debate opportunities for success in gender lens investing – the practice of using capital to advance gender equality and generate financial returns.
In Indonesia, women contribute actively to the vibrant small and medium enterprise (SME) sector, with women-led businesses accounting for 41% of the 5.6 million enterprises in the formal economy. However, women still face significant challenges in establishing and growing profitable enterprises. Investing in Women, an initiative of the Australian Government, is spearheading the drive for investors to address these barriers, by incorporating gender data and analytics into investors’ financial analysis to make smarter investments and expand their market reach to more women-owned and women-led SMEs.
According to Mr Allaster Cox, Charge d’ Affaires of the Australian Embassy, “The Australian Government is committed to addressing barriers faced by women entrepreneurs, to drive sustainable and inclusive economic growth in Indonesia.”
“Gender lens investing across Southeast Asia has reached the point where accelerating the field’s growth requires more industry champions, with analytical skills in finance and gender, to shape a growing community of practice,” said Joy Anderson, president and co-founder of the Criterion Institute. One of the leading think tanks on gender lens investing, the Criterion Institute partners with Investing in Women to organise this event throughout Southeast Asia.
Dr. Julia Newton-Howes, CEO of Investing in Women, said “The growing recognition of untapped market opportunities made available by gender inclusive investments underpin the growth of gender lens investing.”
Jakarta is the first Southeast Asian city to host a gender lens investing field-building workshop. Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam will host an event on the 16 and 17 April; and a final workshop is planned for Manila, Philippines on 7 and 8 June 2018. #
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