Улаанбаатар
Rio Tinto, The Asia Foundation, AmCham support women entrepreneurs during COVID-19
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. With generous funding from Rio Tinto, The Asia Foundation and The American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) provided rapid response funds (RRF) to 5 women entrepreneurs to support them during the COVID-19 economic downturn. The recipients, who are graduates of The Asia Foundation’s Women’s Business Center (WBC) Business Incubator program, will use the much-needed funds to continue their business operations during the pandemic.
The Foundation’s recent “COVID-19 Impact Assessment on Micro and Small-scale Women Business Enterprises in Mongolia” found that the pandemic has negatively affected 90 percent of WBC clients, including supply chain disruptions, decreased sales, loan insolvency, and employee layoffs, which threatens their ability to keep their businesses open as many of them do not quality for government economic relief measures. In response, this funding, which builds off previous successful RRF initiatives supported by Global Affairs Canada and the Lotus Circle, will help alleviate some of the economic hardships and burdens for women entrepreneurs in Mongolia during COVID-19.
The 5 women-owned micro and small businesses including, Tavlag Zuulun (bedding), Nogoodoi (organic vegetable juice), WED Coop (clothing and handicrafts), Tuvshinsaikhan NGO (recycling), and Tsend (traditional clothing), plan to use the funds to secure raw materials, purchase new equipment to increase production, pivot to digital sales channel, and more.
The Asia Foundation is a nonprofit international development organization committed to improving lives across a dynamic and developing Asia. Informed by six decades of experience and deep local expertise, the Asia Foundation’s work across the region addresses five overarching goals—strengthen governance, empower women, expand economic opportunity, increase environmental resilience, and promote international cooperation.
