Asal Bazarova, a third-term NipCA SPJES 2021 Fellow, presented her MA research project at the Japan Central Asia Exchange Forum.
A new policy on “Measures to Further Strengthen Labor Rights Guarantees and Support for Women’s Entrepreneurship” has been in effect in Uzbekistan since 2019. Its goal is to support and encourage the growth of women entrepreneurs by establishing business incubators and providing special certificates that grant them access to low-interest loans. The project has already been executed. Even though the program intends to raise the number of female entrepreneurs in Uzbekistan and to foster an atmosphere free from social gender stereotypes where women can start their own businesses, the number of female entrepreneurs is still low.
The main objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of the entrepreneurial and managerial experience of women in Uzbekistan’s changing environment. The Women’s Entrepreneurship Center (WEC) in Tashkent, which was established in accordance with new policy requirements to give women access to low-interest loans to start their own businesses, will be specifically examined as part of the study. In order to acquire a new perspective on the business landscape for female entrepreneurs, the study aims to obtain the opinions of women who have attended business courses there and received low-interest loans.
Various comments and inquiries on the presentation from Kyrgyzstan’s JACAFA Fellows resulted in an insightful discussion.
