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sia'€™s workforce should reflect its population. Today, only 49 percent of working-age women in developing Asia participate in the labour force compared with 80 percent of men. And the number is down from 56 percent in 1990.

For South Asia, the lowest in the region, women'€™s workforce participation is 30 percent versus 80 percent for men. On average, a woman in developing Asia is paid only 77 percent that of her male counterpart. Less than 10 percent of positions on corporate boards are held by women and just over 10 percent of government ministers in the region are female.

We must change this. Gender equality matters in its own right but it also makes economic sense. Our '€œAsian Development Outlook 2015 Update'€ estimated that eliminating gender disparities in developing Asia would boost per capita income by 70 percent within two generations and help the region sustain its current pace of economic growth and development. This is particularly important with many Asian countries seeing their demographic dividend fade. Helping women earn more will also reduce poverty rates.

There are five main ways to collectively achieve this.

More education, more skills training: We must work harder to make sure more girls complete their secondary and tertiary schooling. It is also important to boost their access to technical and vocational training since it helps women get jobs in higher-paying professions such as engineering or high-tech industries. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is addressing these issues across developing Asia.

For instance, in Laos, we help the government provide technical vocational education and training with tuition subsidies, stipends, and boarding facilities for girls who learn skills such as in construction and machine repair. We also offer employers financial support when they give apprenticeships to female graduates in such male-dominated sectors. Other programs supported by ADB, like JobStart in the Philippines which provides internships and job placements for young graduates, help women get their crucial first foot on the job ladder.

Helping women start businesses: Through ADB'€™s small and medium enterprise financing projects in many countries, we are encouraging women to start and expand businesses. Often, women'€™s limited land ownership restrains their capacity to borrow money. There are some promising solutions.

Being able to use movable assets such as machinery and jewelry as collateral can make it easier for female entrepreneurs to access finance. Expansion of credit registries to include microfinance would help women establish a credit record to access bigger loans.

Reducing the burden at home: Across rural Asia, ADB boosts access to water, electricity, affordable transportation, and time-saving technologies such as clean cooking stoves, giving millions of women a relief from drudgery and more time to generate income. Affordable childcare services would free up women to stay in jobs.

However, a recent World Bank study showed only a third of Asian countries has public preschool child care while most countries in South Asia and the Pacific provide no work flexibility for mothers of young children. Developing Asia needs to have clear policies and measures to help mothers pursue their careers, including tax rebates or other financial support for childcare and labor practices like flexible working hours.

Takehiko Nakao
President, Asian Development Bank
The Star /ANN/Kuala Lumpur