The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Easy access to finance for women entrepreneurs sought

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Monday, Sep 03, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Easy access to finance for women entrepreneurs sought

Special Correspondent

PHOTO: Satish .H

All smiles: Union Minister of State for Human Resource Development D. Purandeswari at an exhibition organised on the occasion of International Symposium of Women Entrepreneurs on Sunday.

HYDERABAD: Union Minister of State for Human Resources Development D. Purandhareswari has said that the biggest challenge women entrepreneurs faced in South Asia is lack of access to finance.

She was delivering the valedictory address at the international symposium on ‘Sustainability and competitiveness’ of women entrepreneurs here on Sunday.

Quoting a survey conducted to measure the entrepreneurial quotient of women among 1,200 middle class urban women in six cities she said one in every four women wanted to set up her own business.

Half of them, who were making some money from home, wanted to set up formal businesses.

The other half wanted to expand their businesses.

But, their levels of education were abysmally low.

Survey

The survey, the Minister noted, had classified the entrepreneurs into four categories.

They were: self-help groups supported by microfinance institutions; grass-root entrepreneurs who were driven by financial needs of families but lacked domestic support and finances; mid-rung entrepreneurs looking for scaling up their businesses from Rs. 50 lakh to Rs.1 crore; and the upper crust which would combine with their husband’s businesses.

The middle rung and the most potent and hungry segment and the grass-root segment had no access to finances.

Other handicaps included inability to tap world markets due to lack of expertise, contacts, exposure and limited technical and vocational training.

She wanted the SAARC chamber to work with them and help set up their own ventures also ramp them up. SAARC Chamber Women Entrepreneur Council chairperson V. L. Indira Dutt and head of department of Business Development and Infrastructure initiative in Germany Anette Rathjen also spoke.

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