International Women's Day marked by initiatives to encourage women entrepreneurs
International Women's Day, taking place on 8 March, has had a catalytic effect on initiatives to encourage women entrepreneurs. The European Commission is to host an 'Enterprising Women' event on the day itself, while Germany announced a new agency to support women establishing a new business on 5 March. EU Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner Erkki Liikanen is attending the Commission event and presenting the Entrepreneurship Action Plan, adopted on 2 March. The new German agency is a joint initiative between three ministries (education and research; family, senior citizens, women and youth; and economy and work), and will be funded with 3,146 million euro from the German government and the European Social Fund. It is intended to make it easier for women who wish to start up their own business. The government is also hoping that the initiative will bring the number of start-ups headed by women closer to that established by men. Only one quarter of new businesses in Germany are created by women, and the figure is even lower for technology-oriented companies, at between 10 and 15 per cent. While around 12 per cent of German men are self-employed, the figure is again much lower for women, at around 6 per cent. The agency will provide contact with female experts and offers of coaching. Gender-specific data on start-ups will also be collected.
Kraje
Germany