President of Kyrgyzstan Sadyr Japarov has signed amendments made to the "Law on the Protection of Entrepreneurs' Rights," adopted by the Jogorku Kenesh (Parliament) in December 2024. For the first time, the law introduces the concept of "women's entrepreneurship."
"The aim of the law is to strengthen state support for women’s entrepreneurship, including expanding access to finance and creating conditions to increase women’s employment in the economy of the Kyrgyz Republic," the Kyrgyz president’s official website says.
The law defines "women's entrepreneurship" as entrepreneurial activity in which the participants are:
- A woman conducting business as an individual entrepreneur;
- A legal entity engaged in commercial activities and registered in Kyrgyzstan, in which women own at least 51% of the shares or equity participation, and at least 51% of the workforce are women.
According to the Ministry of Economy of Kyrgyzstan, as of 2020, approximately 30% of entrepreneurs in the country were women.
In 2024, the Minister of Labor, Social Protection and Migration, Jyldyz Polotova, reported an increase in the number of women leading large, medium, and small businesses. She noted that in recent years, the number of small enterprises headed by women grew by 21%, medium-sized enterprises by 16%, and large businesses by 22%.
