Ensuring that both men and women are able to create, operate and grow their businesses is fundamental for sustainable economic growth and poverty reduction. Evidence shows that the economic and societal gains from empowering entrepreneurs can be substantial in terms of jobs, productivity, competitiveness and innovation. In OECD countries, SMEs represent a major share of companies, employment and value added: on average they account for 99% of all firms, approximately two thirds of all employment and over one-half of value added.