Hong Kong Rises to Fourth Place in Asia Pacific in Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs

Hong Kong ranks number six globally in terms of entrepreneurial supporting conditions for women, highlighting the city’s encouraging attitude towards women entrepreneurs

HONG KONG, April 27, 2022 – Mastercard revealed the 2021 results of its annual Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) that studies the progress and achievements of entrepreneurs across 65 economies and 82.4 percent of the global women labor force. With 62.7 points, Hong Kong’s score remains unchanged from the previous edition, but rose to 17th place globally and from fifth to fourth place in Asia Pacific.

While Hong Kong remains strong in the Index, the report shows that overall the pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women entrepreneurs across the world – especially those in the developing economies. Despite that, women are demonstrating the resilience to succeed against the odds. Lack of government SME support, poor access to entrepreneurial finances, and a severe lack of education opportunities remain the major constraints to advancing women’s entrepreneurship in Asia’s lower-middle-income economies. The findings reveal that despite worldwide efforts to mitigate the pandemic's effects, women have experienced considerable economic and social implications. As a result, the expected time to overcome the worldwide gender gap may be extended by another 36 years.[1]

Asia Pacific leads the world on all key indicators that determine the success of women’s entrepreneurship

Six economies from the Asia Pacific region, including Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan, have found their place on MIWE 2021’s global leaderboard for being the best places in the world for women entrepreneurs. These economies continue to furnish the conditions required to facilitate women’s access to financial support and services and their ability to start, operate, thrive, and adapt to the market circumstances. In these economies where the entrepreneurial ecosystem is enabling, women were driven by the pursuit of new opportunities emerging from the pandemic, demonstrating a proactive and upbeat entrepreneurial attitude that will be vital in supporting economic recovery and long-term growth.

The ranking: Top economies for women entrepreneurs (Asia Pacific economies are in bold)

Highlights of the study:

• The study found a slight decline of 0.8 percent in women business leaders and 0.4 percent in women entrepreneurial activity in Hong Kong from 2020 to 2021, which can be attributed to SME support from the government via entrepreneurial policies and programs, women’s access to financial services and a relatively high quality of governance. These conducive conditions likely support women’s engagement in entrepreneurial activities where sociocultural norms and attitudes towards entrepreneurship are less favorable.
• Hong Kong is listed at the 6th spot globally in entrepreneurial supporting conditions, emphasizing the city’s encouraging attitude to women’s entrepreneurial risk.
• Hong Kong also ranks 8th in the world in terms of knowledge assets and financial access, pointing out women’s high ability to gain venture capital and SME operational financing. The entrepreneurial landscape benefits from rule of law and effectiveness of policies and public service, as well as women’s high access to tertiary education across the territory.

Gender-focused policies and financial inclusion remain key to unlocking women’s entrepreneurial potential

Although MIWE points to the pandemic being particularly taxing on women, fewer than 10 percent of COVID-19 recovery measures implemented worldwide include gender-sensitive strategies. In economies such as Canada and Argentina, women’s progress has been positively influenced by gender-focused policies implemented to address women’s economic security during the pandemic.

Likewise, in Asia, women entrepreneurs in Thailand, Singapore, and Taiwan have benefited from initiatives aimed not at supporting them directly, but instead small enterprises where they are highly represented. Such correlation proves that government policies that intentionally influence women’s entrepreneurship can meaningfully contribute to a swifter recovery.

As part of Mastercard’s commitment to creating a world where women entrepreneurs are equally represented and supported, the company made a global commitment to connect 25 million women entrepreneurs to the digital economy by 2025. Not only will empowering women’s entrepreneurship act as a catalyst for growth and innovation, but it will strengthen the communities that surround successful women, resulting in a more equitable and long-term global recovery.

Support for Women Entrepreneurs in Hong Kong

Helena Chen, Managing Director, Hong Kong and Macau, Mastercard, said: “The Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs reveals Hong Kong as one of the leading markets where women are encouraged to develop their careers. With more diverse career opportunities and autonomy in creativity, women are able to demonstrate their capabilities and are empowered to achieve their ambitions, start and manage their own businesses. In Hong Kong, Mastercard has been committed to empowering women entrepreneurs through collaboration with local businesswomen that will help them to make their mark in the world of business.”

Highlighting its commitment to supporting local women entrepreneurs in Hong Kong, Mastercard gathered more than 20 local women-led SMEs in the city to create a program that puts their businesses under the spotlight. The women empowerment campaign launched in March 2021, and is continuing its strong momentum throughout 2022.

The women entrepreneurs included Ms. Vivienne Tam, internationally renowned fashion designer and Ms. Narcisa Pheres, CEO and Creative Director of fine jewelry brand Pheres. Both entrepreneurs also endorsed Mastercard’s expansion of its Priceless Hong Kong program, which aims to connect consumers with their passions and love for discovering more about the cities in which they live, through partnerships with local business icons and a range of SMEs.

Download the 2021 Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs report here.

Methodology

The 2021 Mastercard Index Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) uses 12 indicators and 27 sub-indicators to create three “Components”: women’s advancement outcomes; knowledge assets and financial access; entrepreneurial supporting conditions. These allow us to track factors and conditions that support and drive the female share of business owners in an economy across 65 economies, representing about 82 percent of the world’s female labor force.

The updated MIWE ranks and scores each economy according to its performance over the past year. Aggregating these scores, the index provides an overall assessment of how women are faring in the business, financial, education, and workplace settings compared to their male counterparts at the national level as well as their peers on a global level. In this fifth edition, the number of economies analyzed has been expanded from 58 to 65 (with the addition of Qatar, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, and Madagascar). 

To accommodate the addition of new indicators and sub-indicators in the analysis and maintain the historical series and allow for comparisons, we have also re-published the index, component, and benchmark scores for the previous two years as well.

[1] World Economic Forum – The Global Gender Gap Report 2021