The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is marking 10 years of empowering women-led small and medium-sized enterprises across Central Asia and Mongolia. This flagship programme combines finance, know-how and networking to foster inclusive growth and resilience for women entrepreneurs and their businesses.

Over the past decade, the EBRD has provided €315 million in financing to nearly 100,000 women through 28 partner financial institutions across the region, delivered non-financial support to more than 17,000 women entrepreneurs, and advanced policy dialogue to foster an enabling environment for women’s entrepreneurship.

The conference will highlight achievements and future opportunities for women-led SMEs, exploring how finance translates into empowerment, why structural barriers persist, and how digital tools and blended finance can scale inclusion.

As part of broader efforts to close the gender finance gap, the EBRD is supporting the WE Finance Code, a global initiative led by the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and partners. The Code encourages financial institutions to make public, measurable commitments to increase financing for women-led businesses and report progress annually. In Central Asia, the Code is being adapted to local contexts in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, with strong engagement from central banks and financial institutions. This complements existing programmes like Women in Business, creating synergies to accelerate systemic change.

Despite progress, women entrepreneurs in the region still face major challenges: limited access to finance, gaps in financial literacy and structural barriers such as restrictive social norms, limited networking opportunities and uneven access to digital tools. The conference will serve as a platform to strengthen partnerships and identify innovative ways to empower women entrepreneurs across Central Asia and Mongolia.