July 9: Stakeholders have said that women entrepreneurship can be further enhanced through the optimum use of technology. They say that digital literacy is necessary for women, who also do household work and who want to use the spare time for entrepreneurship.
The female entrepreneurs expressed this opinion at the 'Standard Chartered Newbiz Business Women Summit and Awards 2023' organized by New Business Age Pvt Ltd in Kathmandu on Friday.
Speaking at a panel discussion on 'Women Entrepreneurs in the Digital Age', Joint Secretary and Spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies Radhika Aryal said that the target is to increase digital literacy to 40 percent of the people. She says that due to geographical difficulties, quality internet access is yet to be extended to all areas.
Aryal said, "Using mobile devices only for calling and using social media is not considered digital literacy. Since women have changed in the way they work, literacy should be increased to help facilitate business." She said that if digitization is done, the workload will be reduced to save time. Similarly, she emphasized that the contribution of women should be counted in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Seema Golchha, director of Golchha Group said that the use of internet in Nepal is still low. She said, "It is difficult to do any work now without the Internet. Digitalization equally creates opportunities and now the market has also expanded." She said that the work from production to marketing is facilitated by the digital platform. She said that women are still not financially independent.
Similarly, Rumee Singh, co-founder of Rumsan Nepal, said that if you cannot accept and move forward with technology, you will not be successful in business. Saying that she is working on targeting marginalized women entrepreneurs, she said that rather than how technology works, attention should be paid to how to benefit from it.
She added that the internet is still not accessible to women, saying, “More work needs to be done on how to localize technology and to what level women entrepreneurs can be helped. Emphasizing that the government should pay more attention to policy and regulation, Singh said, "Extra effort is needed on how to bring more women entrepreneurs into the fold of technology."
Sukun Rasaili, owner of the Marfa Fruit and Vegetable Processing Industry said that the local government turns them away saying that there is no budget for women entrepreneurship. She said, "There is budget to build a building, a view tower but there is no budget for women entrepreneurs.”
Likewise, Sangeeta Khadka, owner of PS Travel Point Tours Pvt. Ltd., said that it is necessary to inform local level women entrepreneurs about the Internet and other various aspects of technology. She said, "There is a situation where women are not able to leave the house at the rural level. How can women enter the digital age in such a situation?"
