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TO BE EMBARGOED UNTIL AFTER DELIVERY OF THE SPEECH

KEYNOTE ADDRESS BY DR ANAMAH TAN ON “WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS AND WORLD MARKETS” AT THE JOINT SHANGHAI-QINGDAO-SINGAPORE WOMEN BUSINESS FORUM IN SHANGHAI, CHINA MARCH 7TH – 11TH, 2002

In my address this afternoon, I will be sharing with you:

1. Situations which support entrepreneurship 2. What entrepreneurship is today 3. Who the entrepreneurs are 4. Growth of women entrepreneurs 5. The future

1. Situations which support entrepreneurship

Today there is a great deal of interest from all quarters on the topic of entrepreneurship. In our present turbulent world of corporate restructuring, rightsizing, downsizing, and even capsizing, mergers and acquisitions, and technological change, notions of traditional careers have been severely challenged. This leaves individuals to increasingly wonder if they should strike out on their own, and whether their fortune would be better realized through the pursuit of opportunities they believe in and they have decided to pursue. In fact, people are depending more upon their own initiative to realize success than upon “the system” to deliver.

At the same time that individuals are taking risks to realize their initiatives, supporting investors and government-backed agencies are working on how to maximize economic value creation by backing these individuals. Corporations are now shifting from their own rigid “system” to incorporate internal entrepreneurship to inject company growth, renewal and performance. The entrepreneurial government seeks to provide urgent assistance for the next Bill Gates or Mary Kay 2 to emerge. In short, entrepreneurship needs to be understood, realized and promoted.

What are the implications of all this particularly on women from the Asia region?

How can China & Singapore women be a part of the entrepreneurial engine and leverage themselves in the global market?

Women, long marginalized in the participation of the economy due to a history of cultural implications and lack of supportive facilities, have NOW demonstrated a determination to facilitate and promote economic participation by overcoming their particular set of difficulties and barriers.

An illustration of women’s inability to break through Corporate America’s glass ceiling was the subject of a recent report that while 12.5 percent of the corporate officers in Fortune 500 businesses are women, only four are chief executives and there are little signs of this increasing in the near future. In fact the failures of some of these women-led Fortune 500 businesses have resulted in the age-old debate over a woman’s ability to run and manage a business. Experts were quoted in the report that in examining the leadership qualities of women in business, the problem may not be the failures of female executives in or of themselves but the increased attention such business failures receive because of gender. Research has also shown that female managers are equally as effective, if not more so, than their male counterparts. Yet, gender biases have not changed and these are some of the key barriers to main-streaming women participation in business leadership and decision-making.

Through the initiatives of regional groupings such as APEC; women’s participation in the economy through business and trade, science and technology, networking and partnerships for mutual benefit, has been strengthened to develop small and medium enterprises and human resources in the region, and in the integration of more women into commerce trade and industry. The efforts for the promotion of women entrepreneurship in world markets MUST be recognized and acknowledged. 3

2. What entrepreneurship is today

As a broad overview, let me touch on entrepreneurship – WHAT, exactly, is entrepreneurship? Clearly, it is the process and activities undertaken by entrepreneurs – which leads to what are entrepreneurs? These are individuals who organize, operate and assume the risks associated with a business venture they establish in pursuit of an opportunity they and others have identified.

How far does entrepreneurship extend? The spectrum spans from the multi-million dollar “Silicon Valley” groups at one end, to small and micro businesses at the other end.

3. Who are the entrepreneurs?

So who are these entrepreneurs? How do we recognize them? Is there a limited supply? Are entrepreneurs born or made? The world used to believe that entrepreneurs were drawn from a society who were “socially marginal” – the uneducated, the immigrant or the poor – typical demographics of the old world. Today, due to the changing environment, recent studies have shown the successful entrepreneur to be just as likely well-educated and have worked in large corporations. In short, the supply of entrepreneurs is marvellously diverse and variable over time. Besides the corporate environment, the socio- economic climate can significantly influence the emergence of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial activity. Economics, tax policy, the provision of low-cost resources, appropriate training and high profile partnerships, mentoring and sharing of best practices are what most governments throughout the world are attempting to do.

In short, the following are all the hurdles entrepreneurs have to develop and build – first, the individual and identified business opportunity; second, the financial and risks evaluation; third, getting started; fourth, organizing the operating team; fifth, developing the market for the product or service, and sixth, the harvest.

4. The Growth of Women Entrepreneurs

When we are asked to name a successful entrepreneur, chances are the first names to come to mind are Bill Gates (Microsoft), Akio Morita 4

(Sony Corporation) and Richard Branson (the Virgin Group). Names such as Anita Roddick (The Body Shop), Donna Karan (DKNY), Mary Kay Ash (Mary Kay Cosmetics), Yoshiko Shinohara (Tempstaff Co Ltd, Asia, US) come only as an after-thought. So, often the first image one has of an entrepreneur is a man. Yet one of the most important factors influencing the global marketplace is the tremendous growth in the number of women entrepreneurs.

Women are founding firms and businesses throughout all industry sectors, and growing them regionally as well as internationally, thus contributing significantly to gross national product in many countries. Since 1990, the number of women-led business owners in nearly all OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries has had a significant increase. In the US, 9.1 million firms are owned by women which adds up to 38% of all businesses. These businesses provide jobs to 27.5 million people and generate more than US$3.6 trillion in sales annually.

Between 1987 and 1999, the number of women-owned enterprises in the US increased by 103%. Although 70% of businesses owned by women are in retail and services, they are rapidly acquiring businesses in other sectors including wholesale trade, transportation and communications, agriculture and manufacturing.

In Canada, there are more than 700,000 women-led firms providing 1.7 million jobs while in Australia, women-owned businesses account for about 15% of gross domestic product in 1996.

Why has there been such a growth in women entrepreneurship in Advanced Economies like the North Americas and Australia? At a broad level, the environment is encouraging and more accepting of women in business. The explosion of information technology makes it easier to launch businesses and for women in particular, it affords them the opportunities to balance a business and family needs. That other women before have paved the way also makes it easier, and the availability of such role models provides the impetus. Support from women’s business groups, publications, and education and training in business skills all help towards more women becoming entrepreneurs. Availability of finances, offer of partnerships or customer contact add to the list. The less positive reasons for women entrepreneurship are 5 negative displacements due to loss of jobs, being divorced, widowed and life transitions. The desire for independence and achievement are strong reasons for both men and women but whereas men need to be the “boss”, women need the flexibility to play their different roles as mother, wife and business person. Most women break out to be on their own after hitting the glass ceiling while others believe they can provide better services to customers.

What about the situation in Asia? Firstly, there is very little tracking of entrepreneurship which is still a relatively new concept in this part of the world, let alone data which is gender segregated. I managed to extract this data from a study of four Asian countries done in late 2000, polling some 1700 corporates. The question was inserted in by the owner of the research company because she wanted to know how many businesses were owned and/or run by females. The answer was a surprising 16% in the Philippines, still impressive 8% in India and Malaysia while a disappointing 4% in Singapore. Perhaps it is not very disappointing when we put this into context, namely that entrepreneurship is still a new concept that some of the Asian governments are attempting to encourage its citizens into embracing it. Unfortunately the recent “Nasdaq Meltdown” and the dotcom bust has resulted in many talented entrepreneurs closing down their businesses and running back to the security of a salaried job and career. It is still left to be seen as to whether some of these entrepreneurs will pick up and make another attempt. Their biggest struggle will be the “face” issue which is a big consideration in Asia but not so in advanced economies. Countries like US and Canada have celebrated business failures as equally as business success and perhaps that is why their citizens are more entrepreneurial. And so within this already small cohort of entrepreneurs, the women-led businesses are even a smaller sampling base. Women-led businesses too would be affected by the current poor business climate and weakening economic scene. Let’s hope that most of them will not be faint-hearted and will start all over again. But they will require mentoring and coaching to continue and this will only happen as the critical mass of women entrepreneurs increase all over the world. 6

5. The Future

The male preserve in entrepreneurship is rapidly being eroded and the number and strength of women entrepreneurs are expected to increase significantly in this millennium. Women’s economic contributions must be recognized and they must have a voice in the global market.

While there are today many big-time players in the industry, many more are still grappling with many challenges in launching and growing their ventures in many countries. Barriers to their equal access to credit, finance, science and technology, and market development are still very real. Business partnerships, training, mentoring and the sharing of best practices must be further strengthened. Women need to participate in greater numbers in the participation of management and decision-making pertaining to the economy – THEIR economy in part. Recommendations that are made by this meeting must be practical to be fully realized – it is time NOW that we encourage our governments and economic communities to implement the full integration of women entrepreneurs and give them the much deserved and long-overdue recognition in world markets in the process of economic globalization.

In conclusion, let me summarize – women today are in situations that support entrepreneurship; they have skills and opportunities that fall within the wide spectrum of entrepreneurship; women entrepreneurs HAVE been growing in numbers and WILL continue to rapidly grow; women entrepreneurs will form structures and frameworks as well as forge alliances to support other aspiring women entrepreneurs; last but not least, let the voice of women entrepreneurs be heard the world over. Women must SCORE!

S - Skills training for business success through mentoring and coaching.

C - Credibility, integrity and ethics as an entrepreneur must be developed, be highly visible and sustained.

O - Opportunities abound – women must be alert to them and NOT be afraid to be opportunists. 7

R - Resilience in the turbulent market through having a keen sense of sagacity and clear-sightedness.

E - Exercising the equal opportunities in the new economy for ALL!

We owe it to ourselves, to our generations of Women Enterprenuers to come to SCORE not one goal but many goals.

Thank you.

DR ANAMAH TAN PPA(G), PBM,BBM, JP LL.B (Hons), MRICS, Solicitor England & Wales, SIArB, F.IAML, Ph.D (Business Admin.)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Ms Shelley Siu, Ms Rameshwari Ramachandra and Dr Fong Chiu Yan - women entreprenuers of Singapore.