At the 2017 APEC Seminar on Women as Prime Movers of Inclusive Business (Source: VNA)
Presentations and discussions on the topic will be valuable input for
further actions among APEC economies in “creating new dynamism and fostering a
shared future”, especially in leveraging the role of women in promoting
inclusive business, contributing to poverty reduction across the region, he
added.
Sharing
the same view on the crucial role of women in an economy, Rhodora T. Masilang-Bucoy, Chairperson of the Philippine Commission on
Women and head of the Philippine delegation to the 2017 APEC Women and
the Economy Forum, said it is important to look into Inclusive Business models
that address barriers to women’s economic empowerment.
The
key findings and analyses from a survey of the “APEC Women as Prime Movers of
Inclusive Business” Project showed that there is still a need for institutions
to enhance the enabling environment for women to participate in inclusive
businesses; to re-create, re-design and innovate; to be more gender responsive
in effecting the enabling conditions for women to be prime-movers of Inclusive
Business.
According to Dao Quang Vinh, the 21 APEC member economies employ around
600 million women as part of the labour force, with more than 60 percent of
them working in the formal sector. The remaining 40 percent are working in the
informal sector, and they are facing a number of barriers such as poverty,
limited access to financial report, poor technical and professional skills, low
educational attainment and poor soft skills required for integration and
globalisation.
The United Nations said that barriers to women’s economic participation
should be eliminated or up to 89 billion USD could be lost within the regional
economy every year.
The seminar, hosted by the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry
and in cooperation with MOLISA, was part of the 2017 APEC Women and the Economy
Forum that lasts from September 26 to 29 in Hue city.
Established in 1989, APEC
comprises 21 economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong
Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New
Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese
Taipei, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.
Vietnam, joining APEC in
1998, is hosting APEC in 2017 under the theme “Creating New Dynamism, Fostering
a Shared Future”.-VNA