Women-owned enterprises (WOEs) are increasingly recognized as engines of inclusive growth and export diversification, yet they face persistent barriers in accessing international markets information asymmetries, high trade costs, complex border procedures, and finance constraints. This paper examines how World Trade Organization (WTO) policy instruments especially the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), transparency disciplines in SPS/TBT, and Aid-for-Trade interact with national trade-facilitation reforms and gender-targeted programs to shape outcomes for women entrepreneurs. We compare India and South Korea, two WTO members with distinct development levels and institutional architectures, to analyze convergences and divergences in policy design and results. Conceptually, we propose a framework linking WTO-driven trade-cost reductions to firm-level export participation by WOEs, mediated by domestic implementation quality and complementary gender-responsive measures (e.g., export promotion, skills, finance, and digitalization). Methodologically, we outline a mixed-methods strategy combining a difference-in-differences (DiD) identification of TFA implementation with firm-level data and qualitative policy tracing. We synthesize available evidence and policy documents and develop testable hypotheses. The paper concludes with policy recommendations to deepen gender mainstreaming in trade facilitation, strengthen data systems, and crowd in finance for export-oriented WOEs...
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