Daily Research News Online no. 6315 - Women in Asia Pacific Holding the Purse Strings

Women in Asia Pacific Holding the Purse Strings

January 12 2007

A recent survey conducted by business-to-business research consultancy, Kadence, has shown that in half of all Asian SMEs the decision-maker in the key financial role is a woman.

SMEs (Small and Medium-sized Enterprises) were polled across a number of Asian markets including: Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. Considerable differences were found between countries, and an organisation's size also had a bearing on who controls the financials.

Thailand came top with a staggering 79% of female financial directors. Meanwhile, India was the most male dominated market, where only 5% of the financial decision makers are women.

Overall survey results show the ratio of female to male financial decision-makers:

Country	% Female	% Male
Thailand:	79	21
Taiwan:	77	23
Singapore:	62	38
The Philippines:	59	41
Hong Kong:	59	41
Malaysia:	59	41
Indonesia:	48	52
Australia:	48	52
India:	5	95

Piers Lee, Managing Director of Kadence Asia, suggested: 'The insight revealed that businesses are increasingly hiring women to fulfill this important role. As a result, financial institutions will need to align their business activity to reflect gender changes in the Asia-Pacific workforce.'

With offices in Boston, London, Delhi, Singapore and Sydney, and currently in the process of opening in Kuala Lumpur and China, Kadence is online at www.kadence.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.