[RTS] Serbian Women Entrepreneurs in London – Business Is Not About Gender, but Ideas
“Small and Powerful” – with this message, women from Serbia’s public and private sectors traveled to the United Kingdom to exchange experiences with their colleagues, with the aim of strengthening themselves economically and politically. The delegation, part of a project implemented by NALED and supported by the British Embassy in Serbia, was led by the Minister in charge, Tatjana Macura.
Two weeks after high-level discussions in London held within the Berlin Process, women entrepreneurs from Serbia and the United Kingdom continued the conversation in the same place.
From Belgrade to London, women are connected by the same mission: that business should no longer be a matter of gender but of ideas. Different stories in the same room, but the same goal – to make women’s voices in business heard even further.
Violeta Jovanović of NALED emphasized that future calls for proposals will give special consideration to applications submitted by women.
“We agreed that we want to further improve gender criteria, so that calls issued primarily by various state institutions are enhanced to include a gender component. When entrepreneurs apply, additional points should be awarded if the applicants are women,” Jovanović said.
Gender statistics are a new feature for the hosts. Since March, they have been implementing regulations requiring companies with more than 250 employees to publish data on pay gaps between men and women.
In Serbia, both businesses and public institutions are required by the Law on Gender Equality to maintain such statistics.
“We should see where we stand, whether these reports are being submitted, because this would be a very important input for all decision-makers when creating policies and support programs, allowing them to rely on this type of data. And the third element would be a portal that would unify all information in this area,” Jovanović noted.
Establishing the E-Woman Platform
The initiative comes from the relevant ministry: the creation of a national platform – E-Woman.
Minister without portfolio responsible for gender equality and the prevention of violence against women, Tatjana Macura, said that the project would be implemented in cooperation with the Office for IT and eGovernment. The platform would serve as a single hub for all key information needed in a woman’s life.
“It would include information ranging from support during pregnancy or maternity leave, to all the opportunities and benefits that the state offers women who want to become independent in business,” Macura highlighted.
In Serbia, 30 percent of women choose to start a business, while in the UK the percentage is twice as low. However, they are recording growth encouraged by various government programs, particularly in cooperation with banks.
Loans Three Times Larger for Men than for Women
Samah Krisha of the UK Women’s Budget Group said that the impact of these programs has not been simple or direct, as there is still a very large gap in access to loans between women and men.
“The average loan women in the United Kingdom receive is around £117,000, while men on average get around £500,000. So men still take out three times more funding than women,” Krisha stated.
The interviewees agreed that a similar narrative persists – women are less likely to take risks, and a fear of failure is prevalent.
“There is also a huge gap in savings compared to men, as well as in the level of property women own in their names. This means they have a smaller ‘safety net’ if things go wrong – if the business doesn’t start generating profit, they lack financial reserves,” Krisha concluded.
They emphasized that cross-border cooperation is crucial, as many of the issues women face are actually shared.
Article taken from the RTS website.
