She added that “Women entrepreneurs have to be cognizant of the changing global landscape in which their businesses operate. The challenge that female entrepreneurs face or are likely to face is how to effectively participate in global trade through connecting to local, regional or global value chains (GVCs). This is a broader challenge that many countries, particularly the developing and least-developed countries (LDCs) are facing. WTO is aware of these challenges and that is why we launched the Aid for Trade initiative in 2005 with a focus on building capacity to trade… In an ideal competitive policy environment, with no gender barriers or biases, women entrepreneurs stand to gain from the opportunities provided by the impressive expansion in scope .and reach of the production and supply networks. In the real world though, the nature of gender relations are often reflected in the economic structure, which is typically accompanied by noticeable gender job segregation by sector and occupation. In the manufacturing sector for instance, there is positive association between trade liberalization and female share of employment in semi-industrialized and Asian countries specializing in the export of labour-intensive manufactured goods.  In low-income agricultural economies, women are   concentrated in (unpaid) subsistence food production and find themselves in low-productivity trap. Outside the agricultural sector, women tend to be engaged mainly in micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs)”.

She pointed that “The 4th Global Review of aid for trade which we are hosting on 8-10 July 2013 has for the first time enabled us to ask almost 700 private sector operators, for which most are SMEs, the main obstacles hindering their participation in regional and global value chains. Access to trade/business finance came out as the largest obstacle followed by transport costs and capacity and the business environment. Therefore, this Forum is spot on in devoting its first them to “Finance and Sustainable Development for Women Entrepreneurs.”

Full speech available here.