Unleashing Asian Female Entrepreneurship with Digital Technology

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The knowledge and support small-scale technical assistance (TA) will carry out new research and produce knowledge products on female entrepreneurship in the context of digital technology in developing Asia. The TA will be carried out by the Economic Research and Development Impact Department (ERDI) in collaboration with leading global and regional experts, and outputs will be shared and disseminated to policymakers and various stakeholders of female entrepreneurial ecosystems in Asian economies. The proposed TA aligns with Operational Priority 2 of ADB's Strategy 2030 Accelerating Progress in Gender Equality, and Operational Priority 1 Addressing Remaining Poverty and Reducing Inequalities. The knowledge and support TA will generate knowledge which will contribute to female entrepreneurship in developing Asia. The TA is also aligned with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5 on the achievement of gender equality and empowerment of all women and girls, as well as with SDG 8 on the promotion of inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment, and decent work for all. The TA aims to address the following root problems: (i) lack of empirical analysis and indicator on the constraints to female entrepreneurship in DMCs; (ii) lack of research on the link between digitalization and female entrepreneurship, as well as the factors that limit access to digital technologies by women; and (iii) lack of knowledge on digital gender divide among entrepreneurs. These three problems jointly contribute to the core problem, which is lack of knowledge capacity in DMCs to fully leverage digital technology to promote female entrepreneurship. The proposed solutions provide knowledge and indicators for DMCs to inform better targeted policy measures for female entrepreneurship in the region