Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are of vital importance to the socio-economic growth of a country as they contribute to generation of employment, generation of income and poverty alleviation. In Sri Lanka, SMEs contribute to 50 per cent of GDP, SMEs employ 26 per cent of the labour force and have a value addition of 17 per cent. Unfortunately, these SMEs face a number of business constraints that hinder their growth, including both financial and non-financial constraints. Non-financial services (also known as Business Development Services - BDS) have a crucial role to play in creating a business friendly environment for SMEs, especially for Women SMEs.
On the other hand, with the challenges of demographic change and aging population, the role of women in the labour force will become a key driver of sustained high economic growth. However, still the female labour force participation in Sri Lanka is not in par with other development indicators of the country. Promoting female entrepreneurship can be regarded as an effective way of attracting more females into the labour force and also an appealing career path for females.
IPS undertook this study with the objectives of examining the socio-economic and cultural barriers which hinder women’s progression to Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector and looking at the existing and future opportunities for women to enter and lead SMEs with a special focus on access and availability of women - friendly BDS including development of business skills, technology transfer and linking with financial services. The study also aimed to provide policy level recommendations to increase women entrepreneurs’ access to business development services and to identify national-level strategic priorities for stakeholders to work in economic justice with the aim of promoting women’s economic leadership and enterprise culture among women. This study was funded by Oxfam GB Sri Lanka and conducted in five districts (Kurunegala, Anuradhapura, Batticaloa, Moneragala and Matale) of the country using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
