Kristalina Georgieva is the chief executive officer of the World Bank. A Bulgarian national, she previously helped shape the agenda of the European Union, first as Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response from 2010. In a special to The Yomiuri Shimbun, Georgieva shares the importance of women-owned businesses to ending poverty.

In her piece, she states: "At the World Assembly for Women — Japan’s flagship conference to promote women’s empowerment — we are highlighting a new global effort to unlock more than $1 billion in financing for women entrepreneurs in developing countries. Announced during the recent G-20 summit, the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) already has raised more than $340 million in donor commitments — exceeding our target by more than $100 million — from its 14 founding members: Japan, Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, and the United States."