Women In Business Worldwide

The need for more women in business is spreading internationally. While the US is still fighting to introduce more women into big businesses or start their own, Turkey is trying to motivate its own women to consider entrepreneurship.

“A country cannot progress or struggle for democracy without women. Becoming a leader cannot be achieved without women. A bird cannot fly with a single wing, a person cannot run with a single leg,” Şahin said in her opening speech at the Association of Balkan Countries’ first Women Entrepreneurs Council meeting.

Şahin said women’s entrepreneurship was especially discouraged by a lack of capital as they have difficulty in locating resources to finance their businesses.

Women manage 20 percent of the small and medium enterprises in China, the minister said. While the figure is 16 percent for the United States, Turkey has failed to rise above 14 percent despite a number of projects designed to increase women’s entrepreneurship, she added.

Out of 26 million employable women in Turkey, only 5.9 million are in the labor force, according to figures.

Photo by Klearchos Kapoutsis

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