Hanoi (VNA) - The second day of the Workshop on APECWomen in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) continued on May 15 with discussionsfocusing on empowering and developing women in STEM through entrepreneurship.
Delegates from 21 member economies of theAsia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum discussed the role of entrepreneurshipand female business-owners in strengthening and advancing the STEM pipeline.
They also mentioned types of networking womenin STEM who are starting or developing business can access and how start-upssupport opportunities and skills required for STEM entrepreneurs to enter themarket and succeed.
According delegates, one of the largest and mostimportant questions that female entrepreneurs have to tackle when starting ordeveloping their business is how they will finance their business.
They said limited access to finance resourcesdue to absence of financial markets, high collateral requirements and interestrates and additional bank charges are traditional challenges that femaleentrepreneurs often face.
At the workshop, participants deliberated ingroups how entrepreneurship can be strengthened in STEM through each ofsub-pillars, namely opportunities and skills, access to capital and access tomarket.
These discussions will delineate a workshopconsensus about next steps for the APEC Women in STEM initiative.-VNA