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 . Kadence (UK) Ltd:All newsMrWeb infoCurrent job vacancies Kadence Asia Pacific:All newsMrWeb infoCurrent job vacancies Simple printable version of this article. Email this article to a friend. Register for News emails