27 November 2020 | Media Coverage

Aussie gov’t launches million-dollar initiative to support PH businesses owned and led by women

The Australian government, in partnership with the global financial group Macquarie Group Foundation, on Tuesday, Nov. 17, launched a P43-million (AUD 1.25 million) investment initiative to allow women-owned and women-led businesses in the Philippines to bounce back from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dubbed as Investing in Women Responsive Interventions Supporting Entrepreneurs (RISE) Fund, the initiative is the first of its kind in the world.

This makes the Philippines as its pilot area to inject catalytic capital for women-led small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Southeast Asian region by providing much-needed liquidity amidst the global health crisis.

At the physical launching of the RISE fund, Australia’s Ambassador to the Philippines Steven J Robinson AO said the initiative “symbolizes our optimism about the future” even as the Philippines has been pushed into its first recession in three decades with millions of Filipinos losing their jobs and livelihoods.

“Women will play a central role in the recovery from COVID-19 and should have an equal part in a more resilient, inclusive, and broad-based Philippine economy. The Macquarie Investing in Women RISE Fund will support and give boosts to women’s SMEs and help to build back better in the Philippines,” the Australian envoy said.

Read the full story

Mabasa, R. (2020, November 18). Aussie gov’t launches million-dollar initiative to support PH businesses owned and led by women. Manila Bulletin. Retrieved from https://mb.com.ph/2020/11/17/aussie-govt-launches-million-dollar-initiative-to-support-ph-businesses-owned-and-led-by-women/

View other Stories