To mark today’s International Women’s Day event, the Daily Update has spoken to Hemita Bhatti, head of trade policy at the Institute of Export and International Trade (IOE&IT), on the work she is doing to improve parity for women working in trade, as well as how that improvement can boost women-owned small to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Finance in focus
Speaking on the barriers women face in the industry, Bhatti highlights that, in some parts of the world, cultural differences limit women from having the same access to export finance as men.
“That’s because they have less access to collateral for loans, for example. Financial institutions then perceive them as higher-risk borrowers, and gender bias can also mean they perceive them as less reliable borrowers compared to their male counterparts.”
Certain trade agreements, she adds, have provisions focusing on women in trade – though usually not binding – that encourage the nations who sign up to make it easier for women to engage with the industry.
The UK’s recent agreement with New Zealand is one such deal, Bhatti notes. These mitigate some of the problems, but others, such as expanding education for women in nations with restrictions on access, are more challenging.
NTFC working group
Bhatti is a ‘women in trade’ champion for IOE&IT, and as part of her efforts to make trade more accessible to women she helped to establish the National Trade Facilitation Committee’s working group on women in trade and SMEs.
Outlining the shape and role of the group, she says:
“It’s an impressive group of women trade policy experts and business leaders who are helping to inform HMRC and Department for Business and Trade [DBT] strategy on trade facilitation.”
There is a need for targeted measures to address the issue as the UK appears to be falling behind on women-led trade, Bhatti suggests:
“The indicators suggest that the UK is underperforming on getting women into trade. That’s something that we’re hoping to address by helping the government to streamline its services on this, and by helping to communicate better to women what services or finance they have access to.”
“We’re also looking at how broader policies like the Single Trade Window or Border Target Operating Model [BTOM] are taking gender into consideration, how it is informing the approach to these policies and what implications they’ll have for women-owned businesses.”
The global picture
Recently in attendance at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13), Bhatti points out that the conference played host to two days of particular focus on women in trade. SheTrades, the International Trade Center (ITC) initiative, put on an event drawing attention to the issue.
“There’s been more of a focus given to this issue in particular, which wasn’t a focus in the past.
“It’s come to the fore and is centre stage at the WTO. Previously, there’s been a working group on trade and gender but now there’s active work to finding solutions.”
The WTO this year launched its Women Exports in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) fund, a US$50m global fund to support women to take part in international trade, particularly digital trade.
Asked which countries are leading the way on women in trade, Bhatti draws attention to the efforts being made in Rwanda on the issue.
“Rwanda has really put forward their women entrepreneurs by showcasing what they do at the Dubai Trade Fair and other platforms.
“There are a few African nations specifically putting on programmes to support female enterprises in their countries. It’s particularly the case for those businesses that would not otherwise have access to international markets in industries like arts and crafts or horticulture, which are often limited to local communities.”
Sharing expertise
On what IOE&IT members can do to support the development of women in trade, Bhatti says it’s important for those in the financial services sector to think about how they can provide better financial support to women-led SMEs, as well as how to promote the existing the support.
“We also need to think about how we share knowledge and expertise on trading abroad, for example through networking programmes.
“I think a community-based and network-based approach is really important when it comes to women in trade.
“They don’t always have the support or know-how because the challenges they face are unique to them.”