One reason why women's struggle to attain equality and recognition keeps faltering may be the fact that it rarely makes big news in the media. Last week's APEC Women and Economy Forum in Bali was a case in point. Despite the large attendance of participants from the Asia-Pacific member countries, the event organized by the Indonesian Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Children Protection, merited little space in the national and local press. Success stories about women overcoming their obstacles don't seem to be regarded as 'sexy' as government officials getting busted for corruption or the guessing game of who will be president in 2014.
Yet, there were interesting issues discussed and important information imparted at the conference. In conjunction with one of APEC's major themes attaining sustainable growth with equity the Women's Economic Forum's agenda this year was women as economic drivers.
Why women as economic drivers? According to a recent study by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on the G-20 states, about eight to 10 million women who owned small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are in emerging markets. This number represents 31 to 38 percent of all SMEs in the market. Additionally, the recent Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Women's Report estimates that in 2012, 126 million women were starting or running new businesses and 98 million ran established businesses. That's some 224 million women involved in enterprises.
In Indonesia, a recent Asian Development Bank (ADB) study showed that SMEs account for 57 percent of GDP and that 96 percent of business units are SMEs, out of which 23 percent are run by women and estimated to grow at a rate of eight percent annually.
However, women-owned businesses tend to be smaller and go through a harder time getting access to funding. The ADB study also showed that because of the difficulty in getting funding and dealing with the complex licensing requirements, women tend to enter sectors that require low investment, such as food and beverage, handicrafts and garments.
In her speech, Tourism and Creative Industry Minister Mari Pangestu contended that the largest economy in the world was the 12trillion consumption spending by women globally. "This is two-thirds of total consumption and is expected to increase by another five trillion in the next five years," said Pangestu. Indeed, various consumer surveys show that more than 50 percent of decision-making to buy various goods and services ranging from cars 60 percent food, clothing, vacations and medical care a whopping 90 percent are in the hands of women. There is no question that women are drivers of the economy and can contribute a great deal more.
Recognizing the contribution of women in the SME sector, the Indonesian government has decided to 'synergize' the program activities of the women's empowerment ministry with those of the SME ministry. "We will encourage ways to strengthen the network among women's business associations, banking institutions, academics and the private sector," said Linda Gumelar, Women's Empowerment Minister, in her opening speech. She expects the private sector to increase businesswomen's access to markets, skills and capacity building, including IT development, leadership and poverty eradication.
The forum featured interesting figures such as the lady mayor of Yokohama city in Japan, and the indomitable Tri Rismaharini, lady mayor of Surabaya, who singlehandedly solved the city's traffic congestion and pollution problem. Surabaya is now known for its lush greenery and its reduction of the homeless and poor people, all of it on her official budget without any additional subsidies.
Lamentably, the forum made no mention whatsoever on the plight of hundreds of thousands women domestic workers who send back billions of rupiah in remittances, but many of whom suffer abuse and neglect. Yet, asked about this, Minister Gumelar merely said that the priority of the forum was on small and medium enterprises.
If we really want to achieve equality, we should start by helping and supporting these hard-working women domestic workers, who deserve to be called economic drivers but who are often treated as second-class citizens, even by their fellow women folk.
YULI ISMARTONO
