The Honduran textile companies Elcatex and San Juan Textiles, with the financial and technical support of IDB Invest, have managed to increase the number of SMEs led by women in their supply chains, and have become benchmarks for other companies that want to establish initiatives for inclusive procurement.

Considering the integration of gender in the commercial and corporate world as a current challenge, and taking the experience of Elcatex and San Juan textiles as a reference, IDB Invest has recently published an article on its blog in which it addresses the main strategies to favor the integration of women-owned companies in the supply chain.

The first step to integrate suppliers into the supply chain is to carry out a comprehensive analysis of the existing chain to obtain an adequate baseline. It is key to develop an unified and characterized supplier database. The purchasing team must be trained to work with women suppliers and understand their role in integrating supply chains. Another fundamental point is to include the promotion of gender equality and inclusion in purchasing decision-making. It must also ensure that businesswomen have access to financing and technical assistance to continue growing and improving the quality of their products and services; in this sense, companies can help providing financing through loan programs or investments in supplier companies led by women.

On the other hand, defining clear goals and objectives sets a roadmap for the integration process and helps companies measure their progress. For example, this may translate into a specific female supplier percentage of the total supply chain or a target number of new contracts to be awarded to women each year. Companies in the region are already spearheading best practices for inclusive procurement.