Sy-Coson to businesswomen: Be confident

TOKYO—There’s a simple formula, Filipino tycoon Teresita Sy-Coson said, on how to be successful in the tough world of entrepreneurship: Be confident.

“As a woman, you have to work very hard, be confident and step out of your comfort zone,” said Coson said, speaking at one of the panel discussions at the World Assembly for Women (WAW) 2015.

When applying for a loan to step up her business, a woman should be able to “make presentations to justify the loan,” she said.

“Men are able to do it. Why would women be excluded?” Coson asked.

Over at the next room, Cecil Mae Morantte-Ocado, the planning and development coordinator of Tanuan, Leyte, spoke about how the town’s women are at the forefront of its disaster risk reduction efforts.

“In our efforts to build back better, the women have the right to participate,” Ocado said. She said even if the women work less hours than the men during the rehabilitation and rebuilding phase, they get the same compensation.

A few moments later, Japan’s First Lady Akie Abe walked in and sat among the audience to listen to Ocado.

Coson and Ocado were among the speakers invited by the Japanese government to share their experiences on women empowerment at the second WAW. The global conference launched last year is the brainchild of Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who equated his “Abenomics” with “womenomics.”

More than 150 participants from some 40 countries converged in Tokyo for this year’s two-day conference to discuss achievements and challenges to women’s participation in the growth and development of their communities and their countries as a whole.

The issues tackled ranged from education to sanitation, peace building efforts, science and technology, engaging men in reforms, as well as the views of the youth in inclusive growth, sustainable development and gender equality.

By Coson’s account during the discussion on women and entrepreneurship across Asia, the Philippines appears to be way ahead of its neighbors when it comes to women empowerment.

She noted that Filipino women do not have much “gender problems” in the business and financial industries compared to their counterparts in other countries with many of them being able to study abroad and return to the Philippines armed with new ideas that translate to growth and development.

Certainly, however, there is still room for improvement, Coson said.

For one, women who want to start their own small businesses find it difficult to get financing, owing to bank regulations that loans are cosigned by their husbands, she said.

Coson said BDO Unibank, Inc. which she chairs, came up with its microfinancing program that allows Filipino women to take out loans easier to enable them to set up their own small businesses.

She said that her company learned from the Bangladesh model, referring to the Grameen Bank that provides financial assistance to poor people, especially in rural areas, to enable them to start livelihoods.