During the event held on March 5, dedicated to the opening of the Ring the Bell for Gender Equality trade, organized by the Kyrgyz Stock Exchange in collaboration with UN Women, information was shared about the achievements of the State Enterprise "Guarantee Fund" of Kyrgyzstan.
The Fund provided 12,874 guarantees totaling over 15.2 billion soms.
The Deputy Chairperson of the Fund's Board, Reina Kurmankozhoeva, reported that 4,885 of these guarantees (38%) were issued to women entrepreneurs. The total amount of guarantees provided to women amounted to 3.9 billion soms, which constitutes 26% of the total volume. As a result, loans received by women under these guarantees exceeded 12 billion soms, accounting for 33% of the total lending volume.
As part of a joint project with the Asian Development Bank in 2017 and 2018, more than 13 seminars on women's entrepreneurship development were held, with the participation of 206 women. Following these seminars, over 30 participants were able to obtain loans totaling more than 40 million soms.
Additionally, the Fund organized 575 financial literacy seminars, reaching 4,820 participants, of which 35% were women.
Kurmankozhoeva emphasized that this figure indicates a growing interest among women in financial education and the enhancement of their management skills. In 2020, a decision was made to allocate at least 30% of guarantees for individual entrepreneurs and small and medium-sized enterprises managed by women.
Within the framework of a World Bank project aimed at emergency support for micro, small, and medium enterprises, women entrepreneurs were also provided with 2,810 guarantees totaling 938 million soms.
Kurmankozhoeva noted that even in times of crisis, women continue to actively attract financing and demonstrate high financial discipline and resilience.
Fund employees also assist women entrepreneurs in developing business plans and provide consulting services. Out of 90 prepared projects totaling 4.45 billion soms, 12 projects, amounting to 1.6 billion soms, were targeted at women entrepreneurs, which constitutes 36% of the total volume.
The Guarantee Fund supports not only women from Bishkek but also women entrepreneurs from all regions of Kyrgyzstan working in various sectors.
