Cooperation begins between Georgian and Lithuanian women entrepreneurs
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UN Women supports Georgian women entrepreneurs in sharing international practices and building new partnerships and business contacts. Held in Tbilisi on 16 May 2019, a business forum for Georgian and Lithuanian female entrepreneurs was one such effort.
The forum supported the associations of women entrepreneurs operating in Georgia and Lithuania in establishing connections, building cooperation and future partnerships, and addressing common challenges faced by women entrepreneurs.
Attending the forum were Members of the Parliament of Lithuania; Laura Kovaliovaite, President of the International Business Women Network; and other women entrepreneurs from tourism, public health care, legal services, advertising and other fields. From the Georgian side, the event was hosted by a UN Women partner, the Business Leaders’ Federation “Women for Tomorrow”, whose members are engaged in various business activities in Georgia. Around 50 businesswomen and female farmers from Georgia participated in the forum.
“We would like Georgian women entrepreneurs to become members of the International Business Women Network and for us to be their mentors in the future,” remarked Ms. Kovaliovaite. “Georgian and Lithuanian women entrepreneurs face similar challenges, but our unity is a great power. We have invited them to Lithuania for experience sharing, and we will continue with these types of exchanges.”
In general, business fora support business networking among countries and promote women’s entrepreneurial activities, including experience sharing and deeper cooperation. UN Women plans to organize similar events in the future as well.
“I think that meeting with the businesswomen from Lithuania is a foundation for new business contacts between us,” said Natia Nanikelashvili, one of the forum participants. “Their experience was very interesting to us because both Georgia and Lithuania are creating their business environment in view of their post-Soviet history. To me, as a representative of a small business, it was especially impressive that Lithuania ranks second in the world in regard to women’s representation in business, so we can learn many things from them.”
The business forum was held within the framework of the project “A Joint Action for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Georgia”, implemented by UN Women with the generous financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway.