VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

More women microentrepreneurs use the internet in doing their business as compared to men, Minister of Women Empowerment and Child Protection Bintang Puspayoga stated.

"Data shows that 54 percent of women-owned micro-businesses use the internet, as compared to 39 percent of men-owned micro-businesses," Puspayoga remarked during the international webinar "Women's Participation in the Digital Economy" here on Thursday.

According to the minister, the data can be interpreted as women having a better survival strategy in facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Minister Puspayoga also stated that women micro-entrepreneurs were faster at diversifying their products than men.

Furthermore, she observed that women-owned micro-businesses were more agile in creating variations and conducting shifting in sectors, locations, and products, as compared to men-owned ones, she stated.

However, in comparison with men, females were found to use financial services to a lesser extent.

"There are fewer women than men who use financial services," she affirmed.

Nevertheless, she remarked that based on data from last year, the number of women using financial services had continued to increase.

"The good news is that there has been an increase in women using financial services since last year, and it is a good start for us to push financial inclusion towards gender equality in the sector," she expounded.

The "Women's Participation in the Digital Economy" webinar is part of the fourth ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Women (AMMW) themed digital economy and financial inclusion.

In a webinar on women's role amid the pandemic recently, the ministry's Assistant Deputy for Gender Equality Policy Formulation Muhammad Ihsan noted that women entrepreneurs need to become technologically literate to compete amid the pandemic.

"They need to adapt by using information technology, so that they can increase their capacity and are ready to compete, even in this pandemic situation," he stated.

The PPPA Ministry has made efforts to overcome the gender equality gap by assisting women entrepreneurs, especially females from vulnerable groups, through online training on entrepreneurship, Ihsan affirmed. (Antaranews)