The vast majority of WOBs are micro, small, or medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Small and

medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are vital engines for growth and dynamism in Asia and the Pacific.

They comprise close to 98 per cent of all businesses, employ 60 per cent of national labour forces

across many Asian economies, and contribute about 20–30 per cent to national GDP.

WOBs in Asia and the Pacific have largely been on the sidelines of the region’s dynamism.

Across the region, approximately 60 per cent of MSMEs are owned by women. But the overwhelming

majority of MSMEs owned by women are microenterprises, are informal enterprises, and struggle to

scale up or survive due to gender-specific challenges in accessing finance, business skills and training,

and markets. Conversely, most larger businesses are male-owned. For example, in Fiji, one of the

Pacific’s largest economies, only 12 per cent of all formal enterprises are led by a woman and in Viet

Nam 57 per cent are women owned micro enterprises, 42 per cent are SMEs, 1 per cent are large.5

Moreover, the region has the largest global SME financing gap, with 59 per cent of the gap attributed to

credit constraints faced by woman-owned SMEs. In Indonesia, the gender financing gap is estimated to

be US$6 billion, and in Viet Nam it is estimated to be at $1.19 billion.6, 7

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the challenges. Rapid assessments of the pandemic’s

impacts on WOBs indicate that an overwhelming majority fear that their businesses may not survive,

with many reporting significant loss of sales. As the region turns towards economic recovery and aims

to “build back better,” GRP offers the public and private sectors a concrete means to do so by promoting

greater participation of WOBs.