Sir Lanka initiated a major women’s initiative September 26, 2016 to address the need to grow and support women entrepreneurship.  The scheme recognizes that women entrepreneurship is an area that could use major support in Asia.  The scheme acknowledges that while the region has seen explosive growth in the areas of ICT, business and trade, women participation has lagged.  Many women face restricted entry into such markets duet to lower wages, vulnerability in dangerous occupations and lower access to credit and finance.

According to the initiatives the program will work at the grassroots level to help women to expand their own enterprises and forge newer ones.  The program is an opportunity to not only support women entrepreneurs, but also rebuild Sri Lanka.  The program will also launch a nationwide training program to help women entrepreneurs excel.  The training will be held in conjunction with the Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA) and the United Nations Asia and Pacific Tanning Centre of ICT Development (UN-APCICT) and the Sri Lanka Ministry of Women and Children Affairs.

According to data by the World Bank, Sri Lanka’s GDP has increased exponentially since 2000.  Overall the country has seen upward indicators in almost every category, including population, Life expectancy and GNI per capita.  Conversely, poverty is also on the downtrend, which has been good news.  This bolsters the possibility of new ventures and opportunities.  While growth has been up steadily, there have been a decided slow-down in the Global market, and it is possible the key to picking that growth up could be the engagement of women entrepreneurs.