BEIJING, May 23 -- Women will be given more support to start their own business, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Women and the Economy Forum said in a statement on Friday.

The statement called on APEC economies to stamp out sex discrimination and obstacles and strengthen the role of women in decision-making to empower them to take part more in the economy.

Representatives agreed that a lack of funds was a major obstacle.

Members from the All-China Women's Federation attended the forum, which concluded on Friday.

According to the federation, micro-financing has been offered to women since 2009 to encourage entrepreneurship and poverty reduction.

The loans have helped females set up businesses or get a job, boosting the economy in the underdeveloped western and rural regions.

By the end of March, over 3.6 million Chinese women had received micro-financing loans worth 180 billion yuan (about 28.8 billion U.S. dollars), the federation said. Central and local government subsidies contributed 11.3 billion yuan to the financing.