Rajnee Aggarwal, president of the Federation of Indian Women Entrepreneurs (FIWE), is in high spirits after the global conference of women entrepreneurs that concluded in New Delhi early this month. The FIWE (pronounced feeway)-sponsored three-day event drew 400-plus women entrepreneurs from India and abroad. Trade liberalisation, Aggarwal says, has opened up numerous opportunities for women entrepreneurs to grab. Aggarwal, who is also secretary general of the International Federation of Women Entrepreneurs, spoke to FE?s Verghis Chandy on various issues. Excerpts:

What are the highlights of the recent global conference of women entrepreneurs organised by FIWE?

We had a successful three-day seminar in New Delhi early this month. About 400-plus women entrepreneurs from India and 21 other countries?120 from abroad?participated in the event. The objective was to discuss the emerging opportunities for women entrepreneurs after trade liberalisation, learn from the experience of each other and provide a global platform for business-to-business engagement.

We felt that while business is gender-neutral, women suffered a disadvantage since she has to juggle her time and energy between family and business. So the need and policy approach required are different. We have put across this view to MSME minister Vyalar Ravi and minister of state for women & child development Krishna Tirath and to the secretaries who were present at the conference.

One demand was for exclusive industrial estates for women enterprises in every state. Similarly, services sector has to be given incentives on a par with the manufacturing sector, since service enterprises are easier to run for women.

What are the barriers faced by women entrepreneurs?

The social setup here is not conducive to women entrepreneurship. Families still dissuade women from entering business, both before and after marriage. It is difficult for a woman to provide collateral in a male-dominated society where all properties are in the name of male members. Collateral-free loans under the CGTMSE scheme is of help here. But it has its limitations. Banks are of no particular help. Their lending to women is mostly in the agriculture sector, with very little money going into manufacturing and services sectors.

Which are the most successful sectors for women entrepreneurs to do business?

Most women entrepreneurs are engaged in trading, handicrafts, garments, paper products, eatables and the like. Increasingly, women are now getting into information technology, especially home-based IT services. I must say many women entrepreneurs are faring well in non-traditional sectors like precision components, auto parts, electronics, etc. Social entrepreneurship is another area that women find natural and attractive now. Some have taken up rehabilitation efforts in industrial estates as well.

Which are the emerging businesses that women entrepreneurs should explore?

Trade liberalisation has opened up huge opportunities for women, especially in services. Today, anything can be sold on global and local levels. There is a market for everything. Supply chain is particularly an emerging opportunity. Many MNCs are looking for alternative suppliers, specially from women, since they are considered more trust-worthy, quality-conscious and disciplined than men. In fact, many multinationals?like Walmart, IBM, Canon,to name a few?have approached us for recommending new supply sources.

Why women are not able to tap these opportunities?

The basic problem is that despite women numbering 48% of population, no political parties talk about their promotion. There is no support system for women?s advancement. There is no road map for raising the status of women through entrepreneurship. I think, the MSME ministry and the women and child welfare ministries should sit together and chalk out programmes for women entrepreneurship. This is very important. For example, though governments are promoting self-help groups, no marketing support is given to them. In fact, we, at FIWE, are thinking of providing marketing support to SHGs.

Can you brief us on FIWE activities?

Our objective is to foster the economic empowerment of women. We basically provide business counselling, marketing support, skill development training, and research to women, besides conducting training of trainers and entrepreneurship awareness programmes. FIWE is a networking platform for women entrepreneurs to support each other and gain from each other. As an apex body, we have a member base of 15,000, including members from 28 local affiliated associations. We work closely with the government to bring the benefits of government programmes to entrepreneurs.

Tell me about your entrepreneurial background.

Well, I call myself a serial entrepreneur. I started with trading in industrial chemicals and plastics, moved on to manufacture of televisions and components and later got into exports of leather goods, jewellery, etc. Now I am also into art; I run an art gallery in New Delhi.