April 20: Financial literacy is the need of the hour for women entrepreneurs. Stakeholders say that the state and private sector should take necessary steps to this end. Participants of an interaction programme under the ‘Standard Chartered NewBiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2022’ organized in Biratnagar on Tuesday said that doing so will strengthen women entrepreneurs’ contribution to the country’s economy in the future. 

Speaking at the interaction coordinated by Chamber of Industries Morang (CIM), Pratibha Rijal Oli, executive committee member of CIM and coordinator of Women Entrepreneurship Committee, said that women, a part of economic development of the country, have always lagged behind. Stating that financial literacy is indispensable for women entrepreneurs, she said that women will benefit from financial literacy conducted at the grassroots level. 

“The contribution of women in the economic development of the country is not less and if entrepreneurial literacy is provided to women their contribution in the economy will be even more,” she said. 

She informed that a majority of women are engaged in business only for livelihood and even though they wanted to expand it, they are unaware about the market and process of taking loan from the bank. 

Furthermore, she stated that if the training and interaction programme is organized by New Business Age (NBA) regularly, it would be very fruitful for such business women. She says that it is necessary to make women entrepreneurs able to take loans, keep an account of their business and do marketing. She suggested that NBA should hold two such events a year. 

Chairman of the CIM Suyash Raj Pyakurel appreciated NBA for organizing the programme for the development of women entrepreneurship outside the capital. He said that literacy is first and foremost necessary for the development of women entrepreneurship. 

Madan Lamsal, chairman and editor-in-chief of NBA, said that the programme has been conducted in different provinces and the selected women entrepreneurs will be honored and prizes will be distributed in the capital. 

He informed that they have been working for entrepreneurship since 2013. Stating that economic development of the country is possible only if women are into entrepreneurship, Lamsal said that NBA has been organizing training and interaction for women entrepreneurs annually. 

President of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs Association of Nepal (FWEAN) Niru Rayamajhi Khatri provided training to the participants on leadership and leadership qualities. She also informed the participants about the pre-requisites to move their business forward. 

Sita Rai of Luma Home-made Dhaka Industry, who participated in the programme, said that it is much easier for a startup now compared to the difficulties she had while starting her business. She said that organizations like NBA need to train startups to run successful businesses. 

Sharmila Humagain, branch manager of Standard Chartered Bank, Biratnagar, said that in some cases, women entrepreneurs lack documents required for taking loans. She informed that banks have been providing a concessional loan for women entrepreneurs in case they are able to submit all the documents required for obtaining such loans. 

Managers of Agricultural Development Bank and Muktinath Bikas Bank said that they will provide loans if all the documents are provided. In addition, they said that the banks should provide loans for the development of women entrepreneurship but there would be a problem when others try to take loans in the name of women.