00:00¡Gracias!
00:30Welcome to East-West Connect.
00:33We're highlighting business and economic opportunities in Kazakhstan
00:36and the wider Central Asia region, connecting with Europe and beyond.
00:41As of early this year, Kazakhstan now has 2.2 million SMEs, nearly half,
00:46owned by women mostly in Almaty, Astana and Shemkent.
00:50Women-led businesses mainly operate in services, retail and education
00:54with rising activity in agribusiness and creative industries.
00:58They offer everything from beauty and tailoring to children's centers,
01:02online learning and creator-made products.
01:05To walk us through how Kazakhstan aims to grow the number of women-led enterprises,
01:09we're joined by Leila Kuljanova,
01:11Chairwoman of the Women's Entrepreneurship Committee
01:14at the Atomiken National Chamber of Entrepreneurship.
01:18Ms. Kuljanova, thanks for joining us.
01:21Здравствуйте.
01:21What support mechanisms have delivered the strongest results for women entrepreneurs
01:26and what programs are being prepared to build on the progress?
01:30Одним из лучших инструментов, который у нас есть,
01:35это, конечно же, программа ОМЭД,
01:38которая реализуется Фондом по развитию предпринимательства ДАМУ.
01:42Это довольно-таки хорошее льготное кредитование,
01:45и за два года существования данной программы
01:48уже было аградитовано более 17 тысяч женщин.
01:51В рамках комитетов по развитию женского предпринимательства
01:54в каждом городе нашей страны, в региональных палатах,
01:58созданы межотрасливые советы,
02:00куда могут обращаться все женщины-предприниматели страны.
02:04То есть основная цель нашего комитета –
02:06это как раз-таки развитие женщин.
02:07What steps are being taken to include women from socially vulnerable groups
02:11into entrepreneurial activity?
02:14При национальной палате предпринимателей
02:16есть тоже успешный проект в поддержку сельских женщин.
02:20Он называется «Одно село, один продукт».
02:22Там, допустим, очень, вроде бы, простой подход,
02:25но очень эффективный.
02:27Допустим, очень много женщин в селах,
02:29которые занимаются, допустим, шитьем
02:31или же сельским хозяйством своим домашним,
02:34но у них не было возможности или навыков,
02:37или же знаний, чтобы открыть бизнес.
02:40И вот этот проект как раз-таки создан для того,
02:42чтобы помочь таким женщинам создать свой бренд,
02:45свою упаковку, выйти на внутренние рынки,
02:48показать себя.
02:49Этот проект уже несколько лет идет,
02:51и у него очень хорошие результаты.
02:53То есть мы видим, как уже такое очень большое сообщество
02:56этого проекта особ,
02:58и где они каждый раз встречаются на выставках,
03:01идет сопровождение,
03:02и эти женщины друг другу помогают,
03:04и уже есть им что выставлять.
03:06Вот какой-то такой классный продукт.
03:08Ms. Kulinova, thank you for your insightful answers.
03:11Спасибо большое.
03:11One entrepreneur has managed to grow her company
03:16several times over,
03:17from a small to a mid-sized business.
03:20This is her story.
03:21Leila Irsalieva runs a catering company,
03:26serving B2B clients,
03:28corporate events,
03:28and households,
03:30from salads and pastries
03:31to full-course meals.
03:32What began as a 65-square-meter kitchen
03:35with three staff
03:36has grown fourfold
03:37to a 40-person team,
03:39with plans to expand
03:40to 240 square meters
03:42by year's end.
03:43She credits government support
03:59and the Joint Women in Business program
04:01with the European Bank
04:02for Reconstruction and Development
04:04for helping her conduct market research.
04:07The state-run Dammu Fund
04:08also provided preferential loans
04:10to purchase essential equipment.
04:12We also won a grant.
04:15We took us from B2B Bank
04:16together with EBRD.
04:18Now we are going to a new program
04:21where we will be planning
04:22for the next three years
04:24regarding production
04:26we will be planning
04:27together with specialists.
04:28Looking ahead,
04:29Leila plans to close
04:30the production cycle
04:31by venturing into
04:32greenhouse farming,
04:34growing her own tomatoes,
04:35cucumbers,
04:36and leafy greens
04:36to meet the growing needs
04:38of her catering kitchen.
04:41Since 2007,
04:43the Dammu Entrepreneurship Development Fund
04:45has provided about
04:467.6 billion euro
04:48in financial instruments
04:49to support women entrepreneurs,
04:51backing more than 110,000 projects,
04:54nearly 30% of all issued loans.
04:57The government is also working
04:59with EBRD to unlock
05:00the potential of women-led SMEs
05:02through technical assistance
05:04and commercial banks.
05:06Joining us to discuss
05:07the outcomes of this program
05:09is the EBRD's Head of SME Finance
05:11and Development in Emerging Markets,
05:13Simone T. Atanasovsky.
05:16Mrs. Simone T. Atanasovsky, welcome.
05:20Thank you so much
05:20for the invitation.
05:21What economic impact
05:22could female entrepreneurship
05:24have in Kazakhstan
05:25and Central Asia
05:26and what barriers
05:27still prevent
05:28women-led businesses
05:29from scaling?
05:31Global studies suggest
05:32that if women
05:33were to participate
05:34in economies
05:35on equal footing to men,
05:37the world would unlock
05:38up to 6 trillion US dollars
05:40in additional growth.
05:42And Central Asia
05:42and Kazakhstan
05:43is no exception to that.
05:45Two main barriers to this.
05:46First of all,
05:47women continue
05:48to face more obstacles
05:49when it comes
05:50to accessing financing.
05:51That's due to collateral gaps,
05:54due to gender bias
05:55in lending,
05:56and also because
05:57financial products
05:57are just unsuitable
05:59for the specific needs
06:00and profiles of women.
06:02And secondly,
06:03they don't have
06:03the same access
06:04to business development
06:05opportunities.
06:06They have fewer networks,
06:08stereotypes,
06:09and social norms
06:10prevent them
06:11from operating
06:12in higher growth sectors.
06:15And also unpaid
06:16care duties
06:17and responsibilities
06:18means that they have
06:19fewer flexibility
06:20and time
06:21to actually invest
06:22in their business.
06:23Our work here
06:23in Kazakhstan
06:24is embedded
06:25in a global
06:26EBRD women
06:27in business framework,
06:28which to date
06:29has channeled
06:30over 1 billion euro
06:31of investments
06:32into female-led enterprises
06:34and supported
06:35over a quarter
06:36of a million women
06:36across 23 countries.
06:38And here in Central Asia
06:39and Mongolia,
06:40the program has so far
06:41delivered over
06:42360 million US dollars
06:44and supported
06:45115,000 women to date.
06:48How can strengthening
06:49women-led SMEs
06:50contribute to regional stability,
06:53sustainable growth?
06:54We see,
06:55based on the global
06:56women in business program
06:58that we operate,
06:59that actually we see
07:00very positive repayment
07:02behaviours
07:03and positive growth
07:04in our women
07:05in business portfolio.
07:07And the non-performing loans
07:08are actually below
07:09the average SME lending rates.
07:12In addition,
07:13we see globally
07:14that companies
07:15that are led
07:17by or have
07:19more female ownership
07:20tend to have
07:22lower bankruptcy rates,
07:24are more responsible
07:26in taking risks
07:27and are also
07:28a lot more
07:28crisis resilient.
07:30And beyond that,
07:31we know that
07:32women are
07:34more prone
07:35to invest into
07:36or reinvest
07:36into communities,
07:38they are more
07:38consciously aware
07:39of the environment
07:40and overall,
07:41therefore,
07:42their contribution
07:42has a broader
07:44socio-economic impact,
07:46including on sustainability.
07:48Mrs. Simone,
07:49it was such a pleasure
07:50having you.
07:51Thank you so much
07:51for the invitation.
07:52Bye for now
07:55and see you in the next episode
07:56of EastWest Connect.
