A model state for women in business --[Reported by Umva mag]

I met Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) back in July 2017 for the Delhi Dialogue 9 where I represented women in business, in particular, the ASEAN Women Entrepreneur Network (AWEN). I was accompanied by Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Chair George Barcelon and Filipino India Business Council President Johnny Chotrani. It was my first visit to Delhi and I met FICCI’s women’s wing called the FICCI Ladies Organization (FICCI-FLO). We established the India-ASEAN Women Business Forum which was made official by the then Minister of External Affairs, the late Sushma Swaraj. India’s chair was Vinita Bimbhet while I became ASEAN chair of the Forum.

After this summit, I invited the FICCI-FLO ladies to the ASEAN Business and Investment Summit (ABIS) 2017 in Manila where they met then Vice-President Leni Robredo and the late former President Fidel V. Ramos, among other important people in the conference.

FICCI-FLO, as if by tradition, invited us back to Delhi and organized events introducing us to their other members and then setting up the ASEAN Business Forum along with a textile show in January 2018. The Delhi Dialogue 10 happened again in July 2018 where we discussed India-ASEAN maritime cooperation.

Even during the pandemic, we kept in touch with our FICCI-FLO friends, and soon it was time for another visit with our Philippine Women’s Economic Network (www.philwen.org) trustees and colleagues, and members of our other women organizations belonging to our coalition. This time, we chose to visit Hyderabad to visit their industrial parks, and Delhi again, where the FICCI headquarters are located.

I cannot help but provide a background of my previous visits because it would set the tone for our efforts to visit different cities or different states in this vast sub-continent that is home to 1.43 billion inhabitants. Every province has its own character and is almost like another country.

In Telengana province where Hyderabad is located, the industrial parks are successful in shortening supply chains because of the political will of the Secretariat or local government. They also have the infrastructure support and manpower complement for any business set-up, making them a haven for investors in technology, pharmaceuticals, and other manufacturing industries. What was most relevant to our delegation — of course composed of 100% women leaders and entrepreneurs — was the FLO Industrial Park for women-led businesses. The property was sold to FLO for only 50% of market value. And more profits are made with a business environment conducive to sustainability as manpower and power rates are also lower here than in other states.

The government also allows for “ease of doing business” by having a penalty system for its civil servants who are found to be the “cause of delay.” Once discovered, the one who caused the delay is penalized with a salary deduction equivalent to the number of days he or she delayed the business process (registration, permits, etc.). How can they do this? It is the law. How I wish we can do this in our country. I am sure it will speed up our local and national civil servants.

Furthermore, the Telengana government readily provides manpower that is skilled or reskilled, depending on what skill an investor may need (e.g., manufacturing equipment operators, skilled technicians, etc.) for his or her business. There is a Telengana Academy for Skills and Knowledge (similar to our Technical Education and Skills Development Authority or TESDA) who train and provide skilled workers to all investors’ businesses. They regularly upgrade their syllabus and offer training in Machine learning, 3D printing, Robotics, and anything on Industry 4.0. TESDA can do this, right?

The repeat investors are at a high 24% compared to other states in India. They have managed to attract $50 billion in investments over the last 10 years! While other provinces have conversion rates for investment interest of 45-50%, Telengana has a conversion rate of 85%, making it the most popular place to invest and do business. They claim to have an innovation ecosystem and they even match prices with other states.

Jayesh Ranjan, the Secretary or Chief Minister for IT, Electronics, and Commerce, takes pride in the fact that 40% of vaccines and 40% of pharmaceuticals from India are manufactured in his state. That is a testament to the efficiency of their system and the success of their investors.

For their food hub, for example, they located it close to agricultural sources, such as farms. That truly makes sense and makes me wonder why we cannot have a garlic processing plant near where the garlic is grown, for example. Or why not locate tomato processing plant nearer the farms than making the produce travel for four hours or more. Telengana is a good benchmark for our roadmap writers for every business investment in all our industries. As it is, Telengana has 14 sectors with industrial parks — the one for Life Sciences is called Genome Valley and has 200 companies in it. They have parks for Aerospace, Textiles, Food, and of course the special FLO Industrial Park for women-led companies where we had the chance to visit Polmon and Paneluxe.

Our visit to Hyderabad was an eye-opener and its practices can inspire our local governments to adopt the same for a better investment climate. Though our power rates are highest in the region, we can explore renewable energy sources for reduced power costs and we can coordinate with TESDA for the needed manpower skills.  And while our command of English is already an advantage, investors still have to be assured of “ease of doing business” as well as real estate price breaks.

Among the many things we learned from our visit is to encourage young women and girls to learn jobs or skills in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).  Women-led businesses can also affiliate with Philwen as we are a coalition of CEOs, Board Directors, entrepreneurs, and other professionals who help a business thrive (lawyers, accountants, etc.). A network of women, like Philwen, just like FICCI-FLO, can give women workers new job opportunities, especially in Non-Traditional Trades.

That is a perfect state for women in business.

Chit U. Juan is co-vice chair of the Environment Committee of the Management Association of the Philippines (MAP). She is also the president of the Philippine Coffee Board, Inc. and Slow Food Manila (www.slowfood.com).

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