00:00KONIEC
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.
01:21What 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, которые 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 кредитовано более 17 тысяч женщин
01:51в рамках комитетов по развитию женского предпринимательства.
01:55В 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
02:09from socially vulnerable groups into entrepreneurial activity?
02:13При 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.
03:08Мисс Кулинова, спасибо за ваши ответы.
03:10Спасибо большое.
03:13One entrepreneur has managed to grow her company several times over,
03:18from a small to a mid-sized business.
03:20This is her story.
03:21Лейла Ирсалиева runs a catering company,
03:26serving B2B clients, corporate events,
03:28and households,
03:30from salads and pastries to full-course meals.
03:32What began as a 65-square-meter kitchen with three staff
03:36has grown fourfold to a 40-person team,
03:39with plans to expand to 240 square meters by year's end.
03:43У нас берут школы, университеты,
03:45Rekolife,
03:46где беременные женщины ECO делают,
03:48и поэтому мы сейчас смотрим на то,
03:51чтобы разработать вообще более,
03:53знаете,
03:54под разный возраст,
03:55то есть детские сады,
03:56школы и университеты.
03:57She credits government support
03:59and the Joint Women in Business program
04:01with the European Bank for 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.
04:12Мы тоже выиграли грант.
04:15Нас отобрали от БЦК банка совместно с EBRD.
04:18Сейчас мы заходим в новую программу,
04:21где стратегическое планирование на ближайшие три года
04:24относительно производства
04:26мы будем расписывать вместе с специалистами.
04:28Looking ahead,
04:29Лейла plans to close the production cycle
04:31by venturing into greenhouse farming,
04:34growing her own tomatoes,
04:35cucumbers and leafy greens
04:36to meet the growing needs of her catering kitchen.
04:41Since 2007,
04:43the Dammu Entrepreneurship Development Fund
04:45has provided about 7.6 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 with EBRD
04:59to unlock the potential of women-led SMEs
05:02through technical assistance
05:04and commercial banks.
05:05Joining us to discuss the outcomes of this program
05:09is the EBRD's Head of SME Finance and Development
05:11in Emerging Markets,
05:13Simone T. Atanasovsky.
05:16Mrs. Simone T. Atanasovsky, welcome.
05:20Thank you so much for the invitation.
05:21What economic impact could female entrepreneurship
05:24have in Kazakhstan and Central Asia
05:26and what barriers still prevent
05:28women-led businesses from scaling?
05:30Global studies suggest
05:32that if women were to participate
05:34in economies on equal footing to men,
05:37the world would unlock
05:38up to 6 trillion US dollars
05:40in additional growth.
05:42And Central Asia and Kazakhstan
05:43is no exception to that.
05:45Two main barriers to this.
05:46First of all,
05:47women continue to face more obstacles
05:49when it comes to accessing financing.
05:51That's due to collateral gaps,
05:54due to gender bias in lending,
05:55and also because financial products
05:57are just unsuitable for the specific needs
06:00and profiles of women.
06:02And secondly,
06:03they don't have the same access
06:04to business development opportunities.
06:06They have fewer networks,
06:08stereotypes,
06:08and social norms
06:10prevent them from operating
06:12in higher growth sectors.
06:15And also unpaid care duties
06:17and responsibilities
06:18means that they have fewer flexibility
06:20and time to actually invest
06:22in their business.
06:23Our work here in Kazakhstan
06:24is embedded in a global
06:26EBRD women in business framework,
06:28which to date has channeled
06:30over 1 billion euro of investments
06:32into female-led enterprises
06:34and supported over a quarter of a million women
06:36across 23 countries.
06:38And here in Central Asia and Mongolia,
06:40the program has so far delivered
06:42over 360 million US dollars
06:44and supported 115,000 women to date.
06:48How can strengthening women-led SMEs
06:50contribute to regional stability,
06:53sustainable growth?
06:54We see based on the global
06:56women in business program
06:58that we operate
06:59that actually we see
07:00very positive repayment behaviors
07:03and positive growth
07:04in our women in business portfolio.
07:06and the non-performing loans
07:08are actually below the average
07:10SME lending rates.
07:12In addition,
07:13we see globally
07:14that companies that are led
07:17by or have more female ownership
07:20tend to have lower bankruptcy rates,
07:24are more responsible
07:26in taking risks
07:27and are also a lot more crisis resilient.
07:29and beyond that,
07:31we know that women
07:33are more prone
07:35to invest into
07:36or reinvest into communities,
07:38they are more consciously aware
07:39of the environment
07:40and overall,
07:41therefore,
07:42their contribution
07:42has a broader socioeconomic impact,
07:46including on sustainability.
07:48Mrs. Simone Tiaz-Onozsiewski,
07:49it was such a pleasure having you.
07:51Thank you so much
07:51for the invitation.
07:54Bye for now
07:55and see you in the next episode
07:56of EastWest Connect.
07:57We'll see you in the next episode
07:59of EastWest Connect.
