‘Gender-friendly trade policy and program a must as Nepal prepares to graduate from LDC’

KATHMANDU, Aug 15: Nepal needs to facilitate gender-friendly policies and programs in order to upgrade itself to the status of a developing nation, according to stakeholders.

Participants of a workshop jointly organized by the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies (MoICS) and the EU-Nepal Trade and Investment Program with technical support from the International Trade Centre (ITC)’s SheTrades Initiative, on Tuesday, shared this view.

Shova Gyawali, first vice-president of the Federation of Women Entrepreneurs’ Associations of Nepal, demanded the government to provide women entrepreneurs with collateral-free loans. “Women entrepreneurs from both the urban and rural areas have been unable to take loans in an easy way in order to start new businesses. This has limited their access to affordable finance which leads to low-quality products that have affected their export readiness,” said Gyawali giving her presentation at the program.

Gyawali added that the current trade policy to some extent has targeted to solve issues related to women entrepreneurs. “The policy has the concession provision for micro industries and women-led industries.”

Lack of gender sensitive infrastructure and absence of practices to use ‘gender lens' by both government and private firms while creating policies, services or disseminating information are among the underlying challenges to promote women’s participation in trade. The absence of up-to-date statistics and gender-disaggregated data makes it difficult to gather women entrepreneurs’ voices representing various sectors. Likewise, access to digitization of various business platforms is also minimal, according to Gyawali.

The FWEAN recommended the government authorities to prioritize procurement of resources and products from women-led manufacturers along with incentivizing such organizations. Provincial and local governments need to take initiatives on trade facilitation for efficient implementation of women-led trade activities.

Likewise, an increase in access to legal payment gateways for global digital transactions and providing related knowledge to women is among the recommendations forwarded by the FWEAN.

Speaking at the two-and-a-half-day workshop, the ITC’s Associate Economic Affairs Officer Diyina Gem Arbo said Nepal needs to promote gender equality to upgrade the country from the existing status of least developed country. “There is a need to incorporate the issues of gender equality in the trade related policies,” Arbo said.

Dorothy Tembo, deputy executive director of the ITC, said women’s presence cannot be made remarkable unless an accountable and inclusive trade policy is implemented. “The expected outcomes cannot be achieved until the women’s interventionist role is realized in trade and business,” said Tembo via a video call.

Govinda Bahadur Karki, joint secretary of the Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Supplies, said the government has been putting its effort to maintain a gender-friendly environment in most of the programs including trade. “It is essential to involve women also in utilization of public resources,” he added.

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