20.02.2024

Our Foundation together with 300 women entrepreneurs, public actors, leaders of development institutions, large companies, and banks took part in the annual Women in Business Forum organized by the Council of Business Women of Almaty, Halyk Bank, and Mastercard.

The key topics of the Forum were the international trends in the empowerment of women, issues of economics and finance, social responsibility, and supporting measures for women’s entrepreneurship.

The Women’s in Business platform devoted a special block to the issue of social entrepreneurship and charity. Akerkin Eralieva, the Chairman of the Council of Business Women of Almaty, noted that social entrepreneurship is based on the people who strive to develop their business and make a significant contribution to the development of cities and villages.

For example, Halyk Fund strives to ensure a favorable environment for development and improvement of the quality of life in Kazakhstan; the Fund allocates billions of tenge annually for social projects in the regions. AYALA Foundation helped reduce the child mortality rate in the country by half since 2010 and contributed to achieving one of the 17 UN sustainable development goals “Good Health and Well-Being” this way.

“The creative principle of women’s leadership has been actively transforming various aspects of the economic and everyday life of Kazakhstan for many years. The largest Kazakh charitable organizations have been successfully managed for decades by women who simultaneously develop their own businesses and support the economic growth and development of the country, and assist the country in solving pressing social problems,” Aidan Suleimenova, the Founder and President of the AYALA Charity Foundation, noted.

The forum was attended by Umut Shayakhmetova, the Chairman of the Board of Halyk JSC, Michaela Friberg-Storey, the UN Resident Coordinator for Kazakhstan, Michelle Yerkin, the US Consul General, Jiang Wei, the Consul General of the People’s Republic of China, Ekaterina Benjamin, the Head of IFC Representative Office in Kazakhstan, Gauhar Buribaeva, the Chairman of the Board of Damu Entrepreneurship Development Fund, Alexandra Akkirman, the Director for communications and sustainable development, Coca-Cola Caucasus and Central Asia, Natalya Lim, a Partner of Strategy Leader of PwC Consulting Practice in the Eurasia Region, and many others.

During the forum, the participants had the opportunity to communicate with successful women leaders and entrepreneurs of the country. Master classes, coaching and practical business sessions were held.