Women as engines of economic growth

Greater regional economic integration is essential to enhanced economic growth and prosperity in South and Central Asia. To encourage this integration, the US is actively supporting efforts by governments, private sector partners, and regional institutions to enhance trade and market linkages throughout the region and beyond.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's vision of the New Silk Road prioritises this economic connectivity as essential to regional prosperity.
We know with certainty that no effort to support regional economic integration or to achieve economic growth and prosperity will succeed without the full and equal participation of half the population -- namely women.
To support this goal, we will host this week the regional South Asia Women's Entrepreneurship Symposium in Dhaka. The event is made possible with support from the government of Bangladesh. The symposium will bring together over 100 key policy-makers, women entrepreneurs, civil society organisations, and private sector companies from 11 countries in the region to work on concrete actions to expand women's economic participation.
Investing in women, and particularly women entrepreneurs, is not only the right thing to do, but the smart thing to do. Data from the World Bank and other institutions show that women-owned small and medium-sized enterprises drive economic growth and create jobs.
This is true in the US and it is true around the world. And women who are successful in business are also empowered to be leaders in their communities and countries.
Take for example, a Bangladeshi leather product producer, Ms. Tania Wahab. Tania began her journey in 2005 with an investment of Tk.10,000 (approximately $122) and a small range of leather products. Initially, Tania faced tremendous challenges in developing quality products due to the lack of skilled workers, technical knowledge, access to business linkages and finance.
In 2010, Tania received training through a programme funded by the US government that helped her improve production quality, enhance production capacity, and develop better management and documentation skills.
This training gave her the capacity to participate in international trade fairs and expand her connections with potential buyers.
Today, Tania's successful business "Karigar" employs 20 full-time and 100 part-time workers who produce high quality women's bags, belts, leather jackets and small leather goods for local and export markets. Sales have increased by 25% since 2008. Tania attributes her participation in the training programme, access to information on how to improve her production and business management skills, and support to expand her professional network as key to her success.
Or take Kamila Sidiqi from Afghanistan, who was only 19 when the Taliban began banning women from schools and prohibiting them from working outside the home or leaving the house without full cover and a male relative.
Despite these circumstances, Sidiqi succeeded as an entrepreneur and role model. Her older sister taught her to sew, and her brother escorted her on product marketing trips to local clothing shops.
Desperate for work, other girls and women in the neighbourhood joined Sidiqi and her younger sisters to fill the growing number of orders, which resulted in rapidly growing operations.
Collectively, they developed strict operating procedures, training classes, and quality control, and attempted to avoid drawing the Taliban's attention. Eventually, even the Taliban asked Sidiqi for jobs and even once requested that she produce clothing for a Taliban wedding.
Sidiqi is now running her own consultancy firm aimed at helping women start their own businesses.
Unfortunately these women are the exception, rather than the rule. Women's success in entrepreneurship is often hindered by barriers that undermine their ability to start or to expand their business. Access to markets and credit is still a major challenge for women entrepreneurs today, as is access to training, mentors, and technology.
Women confront discriminatory laws and practices, including lack of property rights. And while these barriers are common to both men and women, women often face additional and unique challenges of managing domestic responsibilities along with their business obligations.
Given the overwhelming evidence in support of women in driving economic growth, we cannot afford to ignore these barriers. Instead, we must actively seek to overcome them by developing innovative policies and brokering partnerships across sectors and national borders to harness this underutilised potential for growth.
The US is playing an active role in this endeavor. At this week's South Asia Women's Entrepreneurship Symposium, participants will identify key obstacles to women's access to resources, markets, and networks. They will then develop an action plan to advance women's awareness of their rights and build capacity and leadership skills necessary to grow their businesses. Following the symposium, the action plan developed in Dhaka will be used to identify additional investments aimed at promoting women's entrepreneurship throughout the region and contribute to regional economic growth, peace, and stability.
This is an exciting time in South Asia with a young and dynamic workforce enjoying ever-expanding opportunities to engage the global economy and improve the quality of life. The region truly cannot afford to squander the economic potential that women represent if we want to improve prosperity for all -- men and women, girls and boys.
All nations should invest in girls' education to ensure that they have an equal opportunity to succeed in the workforce. We must continue to confront social, cultural, and political barriers to women's full inclusion in our economies. In doing so, we embrace the fullest potential for our societies and future.

Melanne S. Verveer is US Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's Issues and Robert O. Blake is US Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asian Affairs.