Expert Opinions & Stories
In a world grappling with climate change, innovative solutions are the need of the hour. BillionCarbon, an Indian climate tech start-up founded by siblings Ankita and Nikhil Vijayvergiya, is at the…
Woman entrepreneur with disability overcomes stigma and carves out a livelihood in Cambodia
For Ou Sokphanna, who lost her leg to a landmine explosion when she was young, opportunities for income generation have always been limited, with widespread discrimination preventing her from…
33-year-old Rina Akhtar, hailing from Dhaka, Bangladesh, found herself grappling with adversity when her husband deserted her, leaving her to raise their two daughters alone.
Undeterred by the…
Advancing Gender Equality through Foreign Direct Investment – Often an Overlooked Avenue
As countries in Asia and the Pacific build back from the COVID-19 pandemic, they have a unique opportunity to empower women and advance gender equality by putting women at the heart of the recovery…
Disappearing businesses and the long road to recovery: catalyzing women’s entrepreneurship
As COVID-19 restrictions have started to ease in Bangkok, I stepped out this morning to get my usual stock of vegetables and fruits. As I walked down the street, I noticed that three businesses, all…
Can women entrepreneurs drive recovery and sustainable development in the Asia-Pacific region?
As we celebrate this year’s Women’s Entrepreneurship Day on 19 November, we do so with the awareness that our region is still far from creating an environment where women entrepreneurs can flourish…
Taking conversations to scale in Viet Nam - Reimagining the role of policymaking for women entrepreneurs
Ms. Hong leads the Cuu Long Coconut Product enterprise in Ben Tre Province in Viet Nam. She explained that, as orders from traditional export markets stopped during the pandemic, their production was…
The Asia-Pacific region is home to some of the most advanced and fast-moving digital economies in the world. In countries such as China, the Republic of Korea and Singapore, the COVID-19 pandemic has…
Last year, the Asia-Pacific region recorded its worst economic performance in decades. With the pandemic far from over, the region’s recovery is slow, fragile and highly uneven both across and within…