The annual Women in Business forum took place in Almaty, focusing on the development of female entrepreneurship. The event was organized by the Council of Business Women of Almaty with the support of Visa, a global leader in the digital payment industry, along with other partners.
The forum commenced with a plenary session dedicated to macroeconomic trends and challenges faced by female entrepreneurs. Speakers highlighted that while women's entrepreneurship is growing globally, women still launch their own businesses less frequently, experience a fear of failure, and are primarily concentrated in a limited number of sectors.
Kristina Dorosh , Senior Vice President and Regional Manager of Visa for Ukraine, Georgia, CIS countries, and Southeastern Europe, shared that according to global entrepreneurship monitoring data, women's confidence in business opportunities has increased by 79% over the past two decades. However, the fear of failure has also risen by more than one and a half times.
“At Visa, we regularly research women's leadership and entrepreneurship across various regions and see that women strive for professional and financial independence, but many are still held back by common factors. Many fear that their business will fail and their financial situation will worsen. Potential disruptions to work-life balance, difficulties in raising capital, and high competition also frequently serve as barriers for women starting their own ventures. Furthermore, women report a lack of knowledge and skills necessary for successful business management,” noted Kristina Dorosh.
According to the speaker, it is precisely to overcome these barriers that Visa launched a global initiative to support female entrepreneurs — She’s Next. Empowered by Visa. In 2024 alone, over 25,000 women in 17 countries across the region of Ukraine, Georgia, CIS countries, and Southeastern Europe participated in training, gained access to mentoring programs, and resources to develop their businesses. The program has been operational in Kazakhstan and Central Asia for four years, continuously expanding.
“We are adapting the initiative to help Kazakhstani female entrepreneurs find growth opportunities, overcome barriers, and move forward confidently. In 2024, we focused on engaging women from different regions of the country. Participants underwent training, testing, and defended their business plans before a jury. The educational modules were tailored to the needs of women, emphasizing marketing and business promotion fundamentals, sales, time management, and work-life balance. The winners received grants from Visa and access to preferential financing from Halyk,” said Kristina Dorosh.
Halyk has been the official partner of She’s Next. Empowered by Visa in Kazakhstan since 2022. The project has also received support from the National Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Kazakhstan, ASMAR.
According to the Visa speaker, it is thanks to strong partnerships that the initiative has become one of the leaders on a global scale in our country.
The speakers of the plenary session also emphasized the need to support women by providing them with opportunities for education and entrepreneurship, noting that strong and active women make a significant contribution to societal development.
Umut Shayahmetova , Chairwoman of the Board of Halyk Bank, emphasized: “The 'glass ceiling' remains an obstacle for women's career advancement, and one solution to this problem is to support female entrepreneurship. Since 2018, under the 'Women in Business' program from Halyk Bank, over 600 women from various regions of Kazakhstan have received loans totaling up to 7 billion tenge at an interest rate of 6-8%, which helps them develop and scale their businesses.”
Tatyana Proskuryakova , Regional Director of the World Bank for Central Asia: “Despite the progress made in advancing women's rights in Central Asia, barriers, especially in entrepreneurship, remain. Gender equality is not only a matter of fairness but also an economic potential for the countries in the region. If women participated in the economy on equal terms with men, Kazakhstan's GDP could increase by 27%. To change the situation, it is necessary to provide legislative guarantees regarding property, inheritance, and simplified access for women to financial services and loans for business development. It is also crucial to invest in the education and training of women to equip them with the skills and knowledge for successful work in various sectors of the economy.”
The forum became an important platform for exchanging ideas and developing solutions to help female entrepreneurs successfully overcome challenges. It is essential that supporting women in business becomes an integral part of the strategies of companies and financial institutions, thereby ensuring a more inclusive future and a robust economy.