Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – How to increase women’s
presence in transportation, a sector that is still dominated by men, was the
focus of the APEC Women in Transportation (WiT) Forum in Hue city, the central
province of Thua Thien-Hue, on September 27.
The forum, themed “Gauging Progress and Moving Forward”,
formed part of the ongoing 2017 APEC Women and the Economy Forum in Hue.
In his opening remarks, Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport
Nguyen Ngoc Dong said in the field of transportation, ministers have paid their
special attention and given priorities to the WiT initiative for the
advancement of women in transportation.
In Vietnam’s transportation sector, only about 25 percent of
workforce is women, and the percentage of female leaders is still modest, he
noted, adding that over the past years, the country has been making efforts to
implement the action plan for the advancement of women in order to foster their involvement in leadership and ensure gender equality in recruitment and
education regarding women in this sector.
He highly valued the theme of the 2017 WiT Forum and
considered it an opportunity for APEC economies to update and evaluate the work
done over the past two years since the second WiT Forum took place in Cebu, the
Philippines. It was also a chance for them to share experience and good
initiatives and discuss solutions for the WiT initiative, developed for APEC
women in transportation.
For her part, US Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City Mary
Tarnowka said transportation supplies 10 to 20 percent of jobs in APEC
economies, but the presence of women working in this sector is below 20
percent.
APEC recognises the importance of women’s economic
empowerment, she added, citing the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and
Development as saying that if the global gap in workforce participation between
men and women is closed, GDP worldwide will grow by nearly 12 percent by 2030.
At the forum, participants listened to the introduction of
the APEC WiT Data Framework and Best Practices Initiative, along with voices
from the sector’s insiders. They also examined conditions for women in
transportation by discussing opportunities, roadblocks and relevant data.
The delegates also shared their own insights, experiences
and priorities in a way that can inform future action.
Notably, some representatives of Vietnamese women presented
the country’s particular efforts to link rural women to road projects and other
transport jobs.
These efforts include a project to increase ethnic minority
women’s participation in rural road maintenance in Lao Cai province, and a
pilot project to empower women to manage road maintenance in Lao Cai, Quang
Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces. Another notable effort is producing helmets
specifically for Thai women who traditionally must put their hair in a bun on
the top of their heads to show that they are married.
The 2017 WiT Forum was hosted by the US Department of
Transportation in coordination with the Ministry of Transport of Vietnam.
Established in 1989, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) with 21 economies is
the Asia Pacific’s premier economic forum. The primary goal is to support
sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.
Vietnam joined
APEC in 1998 and is hosting APEC events in 2017 under the theme “Creating New
Dynamism, Fostering a Shared Future”. -VNA