Members' Business — S5M-01890 Jackie Baillie: Supporting Women-led Business in Global Entrepreneurship Week

That the Parliament welcomes initiatives taking place during Global Entrepreneurship Week from 14 to 18 November 2016 and, in particular, the work of Women’s Enterprise Scotland in promoting and supporting women into business; notes that women business owners will be attending the Parliament on 15 November to take part in training so that more women are available to give evidence to parliamentary committees, and also to speak to MSPs at the invitation of the newly-established Cross Party Group on Women in Enterprise; considers that women are still held back by gender-blind policy making in economic development, and highlights the importance of work to tackle the gender gap in enterprise in Scotland; further considers that adopting a gender-appropriate approach to all enterprise and growth policies is critical to meet the needs of women-led businesses and to unlock the economic potential of women in Scotland; acknowledges that the gathering and analysis of gender-disaggregated data is crucial to support measurement of the economic impact in closing the gender gap in enterprise, and recognises that if the rates of women-led businesses equalled those of men, the contribution to Scotland's GVA would increase from £7.6 billion to £13 billion, representing a 5.4% growth in the Scottish economy.