MINSK, 6 June (BelTA) – There are plans to set up a resource center in order to support female entrepreneurship, including via education. The statement was made by Deputy Chairwoman of the Council of the Republic of the National Assembly of Belarus, Chairwoman of the Belarusian Union of Women Marianna Shchetkina as she met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Canada to Poland with concurrent accreditation to Belarus Leslie Scanlon on 6 June, the press service of the upper chamber of the Belarusian parliament told BelTA.
Marianna Shchetkina informed the ambassador about the main areas of work of the Belarusian Union of Women, about the most interesting projects for the development of female business. In this sphere Belarus pays close attention to cooperation with other countries. Contacts have been established with Sweden, Latvia, and Russia. “Support for women in entrepreneurship is an important matter the Belarusian Union of Women works on. We need more preferences to grant access to loans to women willing to do business as well as certain conditions for them in the initial stage in order to secure business growth,” Marianna Shchetkina said. “The opening of a resource center is under consideration. It is supposed to enable centralized work to support female entrepreneurship, including by taking care of women’s education,” she said.
In turn, the ambassador noted that these matters – gender policy, protection of women’s rights, and promotion of their interests – are of interest for Canada. There are a number of education programs in the country. She suggested discussing possible avenues of cooperation in this area. Apart from that, Marianna Shchetkina and Leslie Scanlon discussed possibilities for cooperation in these matters at international platforms.