SheTrades Commonwealth Programme
Overview
Summary
The aim of the programme is to increase the participation of women-owned businesses in trade in order to increase economic growth and job creation in Commonwealth countries. With interventions at the beneficiary-, firm-, institutional-, national- and inter-national level, it will:
- Address policy change at the national level, making trade-related policies gender responsive;
- Facilitate new/better linkages with buyers and investors internationally; connecting women to opportunities and facilitating gender sensitive business practice;
- Support BSOs and the private sector to strengthen the business environment for women owned businesses;
- Support BSOs to target women owned business directly to improve capacity; combining face to face training with coaching, mentoring and exposure to buyers.
Recipients
Partners
Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office of the UK
Sustainable Development Goals
UK-Sri Lanka Trade Mission signals growth for women-led businesses
The trade mission, in partnership with the Sri Lanka Export Development Board (EDB), marked a milestone as the first-ever buyer mission focused exclusively on women entrepreneurs from Sri Lanka.
Held primarily in Colombo and Jaffna, the mission brought together over 50 women-led businesses from a broad geographic scope. During the mission, the Sri Lankan women-led businesses connected with 13 importing UK companies.
Attendees were energized by the focus on Sri Lanka’s untapped export potential and the role of women in the country’s economic future. At the opening ceremony in Colombo, Andrew Patrick, British High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Mangala Wijesinghe, Chairman and CEO of the Sri Lanka EDB, and Chathuranga Abeysinghe, Deputy Minister of Industries and Entrepreneurship Development, underscored the potential of Sri Lanka’s small-scale businesses to make a lasting global impact.
For many women entrepreneurs, particularly those from Jaffna, it was their first opportunity to engage with international markets directly. Lakmini Weerakkody of Lak Nature International described the mission as a ‘game-changer,’ emphasizing the inspiration sparked by the connections she made.
The visit provided not only a platform for business exchanges, but also a deeper understanding of Sri Lanka’s unique production capabilities, where many businesses focus on community-based, sustainable production.
The UK companies were impressed by the quality of offerings, including coconut-based products, spices, herbal teas, traditional Sri Lankan condiments, and handloom fabrics and homeware. Many are exploring ways to invest in the businesses they met.
The mission also included site visits so that the UK delegates could get a sense of the entrepreneurs’ production processes. On site, they saw firsthand the resilience and innovation of Sri Lankan women entrepreneurs. In Jaffna, a region recovering from recent cyclone damage, entrepreneurs showed remarkable tenacity – factories that had been closed due to flooding reopened to showcase their work.
The Sri Lankan businesses demonstrated a commitment to both commercial success and social responsibility. Highlights included a company run by civil war widows and disabled veterans, a tea estate run primarily on renewable energy, and a handloom business that provides on-site schooling and daycare for workers’ children.
The SheTrades Sri Lanka Hub, hosted by the Sri Lanka Export Development Board and set to launch in early 2025, will further support women-led businesses by providing a range of tools, including export procedure handbooks tailored to British markets.
Boluaji Fagborun from Fagborun Ltd. in Bradford, UK, reflected on the impact of working with women from Sri Lanka, ‘Support a business here, and you are supporting a whole intricate local community.’
