WOMEX project

WOMEX project aims to facilitate a change in business culture in EU regions, ensuring that unequal opportunities for women within them do not hinder the competitiveness and sustainable growth of exporting SMEs. The project addresses the chronic limitations women face in accessing the benefits of international trade, an especially fertile field for professionals and companies.

The seven participating regions face similar challenges: the impact of gender bias on our economies and societies in exporting SMEs, a scarcity of corrective instruments in public policies aimed at them, and a meagre incorporation of the gender perspective into their business strategies.

EU regions play a crucial role in shifting this paradigm by incorporating gender mainstreaming into public policies aimed at fostering competitiveness and sustainable growth in exporting SMEs and by providing a catalogue of services to professional women and women owners of exporting SMEs that facilitate financing, training, and digitalisation. This and advocacy initiatives will contribute to that change and impact socioeconomic growth and business ecosystems.

EU regions are fully committed to strengthening the competitiveness and long-term sustainable growth potential of their SMEs. However, decisive measures are still needed to enhance gender mainstreaming in public policies for exporting SMEs, supporting higher productivity, employment, and prosperity. To tackle these challenges, WOMEX develops a catalogue of best practices built by partners through regional exchanges and based on the results of regional studies on exporting SMEs’ gender bias and the design of supportive tools tailored to their needs.

WOMEX aligns with the EU's will to work towards greater cohesion and convergence in regional policies, strengthening and developing its exporting SMEs jointly and intensifying efforts to make Europe a more prosperous society committed to gender equality in international trade.