apec women and the economy 2015...
TRANSCRIPT
Page 2 of 108
Table of Contents APEC WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY 2015 FORA ...................................................................... 3
Key Results of the APEC WE 2015 Fora ............................................................................................... 4
Individual Summary Report .................................................................................................................... 7
Annex A: APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement ........................................................ 8
Women as Prime Movers of Inclusive Growth ....................................................................................... 8
Annex A.2: APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement .................................................... 14
Annex B: Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy 2 Meeting ............................................... 16
Annex C: Public Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy ....................................................... 25
Annex C.1: APEC WE 2015 Fora – Public Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy Program
of Activities ........................................................................................................................................... 50
Annex C.2: Profiles of Speakers and Moderators ................................................................................ 53
Annex D: High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy................................................. 61
Annex E: PPWE Management Council Meeting ................................................................................. 92
Annex F: APEC Multi-Year Project: Seminar on Empowering Women through ICT for Inclusive
Growth .................................................................................................................................................. 97
Annex G: APEC Women’s Business and Smart Technology Seminar: Including & Leveraging Smart
Technology for Empowering APEC Women Entrepreneurs .............................................................. 104
Page 3 of 108
APEC WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY 2015 FORA Summary Reports
The APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora was held on 15 to 18 September 2015 at the
Philippine International Convention Center. The overall chair of the event was the
Philippines’ Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado.
Nineteen APEC member economies were represented: Australia, Brunei Darussalam,
Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, New Zealand, Papua
New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei,
Thailand, United States, and Viet Nam. Each delegation was headed by Ministers, Deputy
Ministers, Ambassadors, and Senior Officials level.
About eighteen (18) official activities took place during the four-day events which are as
follows:
15 September 2015
1) WE-APEC Workshop: Setting the Agenda for Action
2) APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard: Developing an Implementation Plan
3) APEC Women’s Business and Smart Technology Seminar
4) Hosted dinner by Asia Pacific Women’s Information Network Center (APWINC)
16 September 2015
5) Seminar on Empowering Women through ICT for Inclusive Growth
6) Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE) 2 Meeting
7) Launching of the Healthy Women, Healthy Economy Policy Toolkit
8) Opening Ceremonies of ICONOGRAPH and Luxe Philippines
9) Hosted dinner for Speakers by the Filipina Women CEOs Circle
10) Hosted dinner for Heads of Delegations by DTI
17 September 2015
11) APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Opening Ceremony
12) Public Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy (PPDWE)
13) Launching of the WE-APEC Network Online Portal
14) Welcome Dinner for all
18 September 2015
15) High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy
16) Press Conference
17) PPWE Management Council Meeting
18) Hosted technical visit
The three major components of APEC WE 2015 Fora – PPWE (including PPWE MCM),
PPDWE, and HLPD on WE – were headed by the following:
1) The PPWE, the working group arm of APEC WE, as well as the PPWE MCM, was
chaired by the Philippine Commission on Women Executive Director Ms. Emmeline
L. Verzosa;
Page 4 of 108
2) The PPDWE, where private sector’s participation was heightened, was led by the
Women’s Business Council Philippines Chair Ms. Ma. Aurora “Boots” Geotina-
Garcia; and
3) The HLPD on WE, the culminating activity of APEC WE, was chaired by DTI
Undersecretary Terrado as well.
Key Results of the APEC WE 2015 Fora
APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement
The Statement was adopted at the High Level Policy Dialogue which serves as a major
contribution to the APEC Economic Leaders Meeting in November. This outlines concrete
and actionable recommendations following the theme Women as Prime Movers of
Inclusive Growthand categorized along the three sub-themes: 1) Women and Inclusive
Business; 2) Women in the International Markets and Global Value Chains; and 3)
Women and Sustainable Development. Full copy of the APEC WE 2015 Fora Statement is
found at Annex A and is also available at the APEC website.
Finalization of the PPWE Strategic Plan 2015-2018
To further strengthen the mainstreaming efforts done on gender equality and women’s
economic empowerment in the APEC work stream, the PPWE collaborated with nine (9)
working groups, in varying degrees (as of 2015):
1) Emergency Preparedness Working Group;
2) Transportation Working Group;
3) Health Working Group;
4) Human Resource Development Working Group;
5) Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group;
6) Telecommunications Working Group;
7) Economic Committee;
8) Energy Working Group; and
9) Anti-Corruption Working Group;
Updated Guide on Gender Criteria for APEC Project Proposals
This document serves as a tool used to assess the gender-responsiveness or gender elements
of project proposals being submitted to the APEC Secretariat.
Out of a total of 42 project proposals assessed by the APEC Secretariat for Project Session 1
in 2015, 21 satisfactorily addressed the gender criteria in their first submission.
Finalization of APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard
This initiative seeks to provide a snapshot of the status of women in APEC, by looking at a
set of indicators to measure progress of women’s participation in economic-related activities
and women’s inclusion in several aspects of life.
With almost 80 indicators, these are classified along five pillars in advancing women’s
economic empowerment:
1) Access to capital and assets;
2) Access to markets;
Page 5 of 108
3) Skills, capacity building, and health;
4) Leadership, voice and agency; and
5) Innovation and technology.
The final version of the APEC WE Dashboard is available online at the APEC website.
Launching of the APEC Healthy Women, Healthy Economy Policy Toolkit
The toolkit offers a user-friendly one stop menu of policy options that can be used to pilot,
implement, and scale up actions appropriate to local economic and social conditions.It serves
as a guide to APEC member economies in implementing actions on a voluntary basis and
choosing actions appropriate for their economy. The Philippines has volunteered to apply the
toolkit in several of its companies within the export processing zones and other member
companies of the Management Association of the Philippines. Chile also expressed interest
in applying the toolkit.
Launching of Women’s Entrepreneurship in APEC (WE-APEC) Online
Platform
Accessible at www.we-apec.com, the platform provides a detailed view of the landscape for
women entrepreneurs in APEC region. It offers a dynamic directory of service providers for
women-owned businesses across APEC and provides a way for governments, the private
sector, business networks and entrepreneurs to connect to each other.
Heightened participation to APEC WE 2015 Fora events
One of the APEC WE 2015 Fora, the Public Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy,
gathered around 800 registered delegates and guests composed of:
o In total: 82% women, 19% men;
o Official delegates: 54% public, 44% private, 2% academe
o Guests (Non-Member Participants): 58% private, 37% public, 5% academe
o Private sector: majority are CEOs, Founders, and Managing Directors;
o Public sector: 2/3 are Ministers/Secretaries, Ambassadors, Deputy
Ministers/Undersecretaries, and Directors; and
o 30 student observers, majority from the Philippine Women’s University.
The PPDWE was honored by the presence of the APEC Leader, no less than the President of
the Republic of the Philippines H.E. Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III, who delivered the
Keynote Address. This further strengthened the call to continue advancing the focus on
gender equality and women’s economic empowerment in APEC discussions. It also
concretized our call for a sustained collaboration among the government, business sector, and
civil society in designing and implementing programs for women. The relevance of the
participation of the youth was also highlighted in PPDWE as well as harnessing their innate
potential for the future of inclusive growth.
Sixteen extraordinary Women Icons nominated at the ICONOGRAPH: APEC
Women Icons Exhibit
ICONOGRAPH, a special exhibition organized by DTI and its export promotions arm, the
Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), recognized and
highlighted the stories of sixteen Women Icons from the 21 APEC economies. The
exhibition appeals to a contemporary sense of pride in leadership in sustainable growth and
Page 6 of 108
development of micro, small and medium scale enterprises (MSMEs). It also showcases how
women are vital contributors and prime movers for the attainment of inclusive growth of an
economy.
The following APEC Women Icons are:
1) Australia: Carol Margaret Hanlon
Founding Manager / Chief Executive Officer
Belmont Business Enterprise Centre Inc. (BEC)
BPW Business Incubator & BEC Global
Textile Clothing Footwear Resource Centre of WA Inc. (TCFWA)
2) Canada: Victoria Lennox
Chief Executive Officer
Start Up Canada
3) People’s Republic of China: Jie Shao
Founder, Lin’an City Tianyue Food Co. Ltd
Director, Bainiu Village Women’s Committee
4) Indonesia: Reny Feby
Founder
Reny Feby Jewelry and Indonesia Festival (INAfest)
5) Japan: Lin Kobayashi
Co-founder and Chair of the Board
International School of Asia, Karuizawa
6) Republic of Korea: Minjai Lee
Chief Executive Officer
M Son Co., Ltd.
Korean Women Entrepreneurs Association
Korea Trade Association
Korea Importers Association
7) New Zealand: Dame Wendy Pye
Managing Director
Wendy Pye Publishing Limited
8) Malaysia: Dato' Hazimah Zainuddin
Group Managing Director
Hyrax Oil Sdn. Bhd.
9) Philippines: Leonarda Capuyan
Founder
Narda's Handwoven Arts & Crafts
10) Papua New Guinea: Janet Sape
Founder & Executive Director
Papua New Guinea Women in Business Ltd.
11) Peru: Rosario Bazan de Aranguri
Foundress and General Manager
DANPER, Sustainable Agroindustry
12) Russia: Anna Vladimirovna Nesterova
Chief Executive Officer and Partner
Investment Company Center Capital
13) Chinese Taipei: Mei-Ping Hsiao
General Manager
Han-Chao Logistics Co., Ltd.
Page 7 of 108
14) Thailand: Suwana Jiwattanapaiboon
Managing Director
Xongdur Thai Organic Food Co., Ltd.
15) Chile: Andrea Pilar Irarrazaval
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Clean Energy E.S.B. S.A.
16) USA: Ms. Julie Hanna
Founder
Kiva
Copy of the brochure can be accessed at:
http://apec2015.ph/women/iconograph/Iconograph_Brochure_for_web.pdf
Individual Summary Report
Summary Reports on the following meetings are annexed in this document:
1) Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy 2 Meeting – Annex B;
2) Public Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy – Annex C;
3) High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy – Annex D;
4) PPWE Management Council Meeting – Annex E;
5) Seminar on Empowering Women through ICT for Inclusive Growth – Annex F;
and
6) APEC Women’s Business and Smart Technology Seminar – Annex G.
Page 8 of 108
Annex A: APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement Women as Prime Movers of Inclusive Growth
1 We, APEC Ministers, Heads of Delegations, Senior Officials, private sector leaders, and
representatives from non-governmental organizations, met inManila, the Philippines, from15 to
18 September 2015 for the High-Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy within the
APEC Women and the Economy (WE) 2015 Fora.
2 We acknowledge the APEC host theme of “Building Inclusive Economies, Building a Better
World” focusing on four priorities: 1) enhancing the regional economic integration agenda; 2)
fostering small and medium enterprises (SMEs) participation in regional and global markets; 3)
investing in human capital development; and 4) building resilient and sustainable communities.
3 This meeting builds on the foundation of the first APEC Ministerial Meeting on Women, also
held in Manila in 1998, which paved the way for the drafting of the Framework for the Integration
of Women in the APEC agenda. The Framework has guided all APEC fora in mainstreaming
women in APEC processes and activities.
4 We welcome the recognition by the APEC Leaders of the vital contribution of women to
economic development and prosperity of the Asia Pacific and beyond, as well as their
commitment to take forward concrete policies and innovative measures to further enhance
women’s economic empowerment, and greater inclusion of women in the regional economy, in
particular, through improved access to capital and assets; access to markets; skills, capacity
building, and health; women’s leadership, voice and agency; and innovation and technology. We
will work to ensure women’s equal opportunities, participation, and benefits in innovative
development, economic reform, and growth.
5 We recognize that 2015 is a landmark year as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Beijing
Declaration and Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) agreed by 189 United Nations (UN) Member
States during the Fourth World Conference on Women in 1995, where investing in gender
equality and women’s empowerment was acknowledged. The BPfA recognizes that women make
significant contributions to the economy and calls for the promotion of women’s economic rights
and independence, including access to employment, appropriate working conditions and control
over economic resources, and equal pay for equal work and work of equal value.
6 We encourage APEC economies to take concrete steps towards addressing gender disparities
in women’s labor force participation. We recognize the commitments of G20 leaders in 2014 to
reduce the gender gap by 25 percent by 2025.
7 Recognizing that APEC presents an opportunity for international collaboration between policy
makers and industry leaders, including those in the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC),
the Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE) will work closely with ABAC to
further advance women’s economic participation and develop programsthat will train and
promotediverse pipelines of women leaders.
8 We commend economy-led efforts under the PPWE to enhance women’s entrepreneurship,
including in disaster reconstruction, to encourage women’s participation in the economy using
smart technology and other ICT tools, and to empower women through leadership as described in
Annex A.
Women as Prime Movers of Inclusive Growth
9 The main theme of the APEC WE 2015 Fora, “Women as Prime Movers of Inclusive Growth,”
reaffirms women’s crucial role in achieving economic prosperity and women’s leadership roles as
Page 9 of 108
imperative for competitiveness and success in the private, and public sectors. Inclusive growth is
seen as growth that provides opportunities for all, including women as both drivers and
beneficiaries of this development, which in turn can promote greater gender equality.
10 The APEC WE 2015 Fora also tackled three sub-themes: Women and Inclusive Business, which
highlighted how women from the base-of-the-pyramid are empowered as producers, suppliers,
distributors, workers, and/or consumers; Women in the International Markets and Global
Value Chains, which discussed how women leaders use innovation as a means to breaking
barriers and effectively competing in global value chainsand regional economies; Women and
Sustainable Development, which highlighted success stories and case studies on women’s
resilience, including health and wellness linked to productivity, family management and human
capital development, and disaster preparedness and business continuity planning in the context of
the changing climate and environment.
11 We recognize that to address issues within these sub-themes more efficiently, Senior Officials
approved the holding of two PPWE meetings this year; the first of which was graciously hosted
by Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby from 03 to 05 May 2015. This is to provide ample time
for economies leading projects under the PPWE and across other APEC fora to ensure that gender
equality and women’s economic empowerment is being pushed forward for consideration by
Senior Officials, Ministers, and APEC Leaders.
12 We welcome the outcomes of the Public Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy
(PPDWE), which highlighted inspiring stories and the unique role of women as prime movers of
inclusive growth. It also provided an educational and interactive forum for sharing good practices
and insights into tapping women’s potential through, for example, leveraging technology and e-
commerce. It also emphasized that women are more than just a niche market but rather a driving
force for economic change. The PPDWE called on all stakeholders to continue pursuing a
women’s economic empowerment agenda to create new opportunities for women, highlighting in
particular the need for collaboration between the public and private sectors.
Empowered: Women and Inclusive Business
13 We remain committed to realizing the full potential of women as economic actors in the global
economy and will continue to promote access to education, training and capacity-building
programs, particularly for developing economies, and mentoring services to enable women to
widen their awareness and gain access to labor markets, quality employment, and business
opportunities. We commit to strengthen social protection as it impacts women’s ability to fully
participate in the economy.
14 We shall continue to foster the increase in the number of female entrepreneurs year by year by
developing policies and services to assist women’s business start-up and business development.
15 Bearing in mind the importance of enhancing women’s participation in the economy particularly
focusing on leadership, decision-making and management, we encourage each economy to
establish and pursue measurable and aspirational voluntary goals, includingwomen’s
representation in leadership and decision-making roles.
16 We also encourage companies, employers, and entrepreneurs, along with governments, to invest
in human capital to ensure the physical and mental health, safety, and well-being of all workers,
including working to address the unique health and safety challenges faced by women in the
workplace.
17 We recognize the importance of inclusive growth and the contribution of vulnerable groups to the
growth and stability of the global economy. Youth, persons with disabilities and indigenous
Page 10 of 108
peoples experience increased levels of poverty and social exclusion, with women and girls in each
of these categories experiencing even greater challenges.
18 We call on public and private sector stakeholders to promote and respect gender diversity at all
levels of employment, and encourage both sectors to develop mechanisms to collect sex-
disaggregated data, formulate policies to ensure the achievement of gender equality and women’s
empowerment, and provide public transparency regarding actions taken.
19 We acknowledge that building a gender-responsive world requires a social transformation of all
members of society. We encourage women and girls and men and boys to take an active stand in
promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment and advocating for mutual respect and
shared responsibility. We recognize that promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment
will bring benefits not only for women and girls but also men and boys through inclusive growth.
20 We encourage exploring the possibility of promoting fair trade programs to support more women
in rural-based economies to participate in cross-border trading. We recognize that this will
provide more women with access to markets for their products and generate income to sustain
their livelihood.
Innovative: Women in the International Market and Global Value Chains
21 We emphasize that gender is an important aspect in international markets and global value chains.
Therefore, it is important to integrate gender into the overall business operations and analytical
frameworks, including production, sourcing, marketing, and consumption, to ensure gender is
accounted for. Taking proactive measures will enable women as employees, leaders, and
entrepreneurs to become more competitive and improve their ability to participate in global value
chains. This will facilitate the development of competitive advantage for women’s enterprises and
improve their functional position in the value chain as well as coordinate the support of various
enablers and service providers.
22 We listened to success stories of role models who exemplified the transformation of women and
provided a mentoring and networking opportunity for dynamic women trailblazers. These
provided lessons and recommendations for women to take ownership and propel the development
process by harnessing their motivation, leadership, and decision-making skills.
23 We recognize the importance of innovation for women and economic development and, therefore,
encourage APEC economies to work towards creating an enabling environment for women to
fully and equally get access to economic resources and equal opportunities to participate in
business in the global markets.
Resilient: Women and Sustainable Development
24 We acknowledge the strength and exceptional spirit of resilience of women and girls in the Asia
Pacific and emphasize their important role in adapting to climate change, reducing and managing
disaster risks, spurring economic development, and further strengthening the ties of communities.
25 We recognize the “Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030” adopted at the
Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction in March 2015, which stipulated
“Women and their participation are critical to effectively managing disaster risk and designing,
resourcing and implementing gender-sensitive disaster risk reduction policies, plans and
programmes; and adequate capacity building measures need to be taken to empower women for
preparedness as well as build their capacity for alternate livelihood means in post-disaster
situations.”
Page 11 of 108
26 We encourage economies to provide women with equal opportunities to participate in decision-
making roles at all levels of disaster risk reduction, response, and recovery and to enhance
women’s leadership capabilities and representation across the board. We also encourage women
as integral members of our community, company workers, and entrepreneurs to be equipped in
disaster risk mitigation and climate change adaption. During times of disasters, women have been
known to take on tasks related to survival, such as administering provisions for their families and
seeing to their safety and good health. Empowering women such as through entrepreneurship
reinforces their roles as champions of community resilience in the face of disaster.
27 Women entrepreneurs should also be provided with capacity building, technical support, and
access to capital to enable them to run resilient enterprises. This will ensure that devastations
brought about by disasters will not permanently rob them of their income and livelihood.
28 We encourage efforts towards promoting business continuity programmes to support women-
owned enterprises to get up on their feet after disasters and carry on re-building their lives and
businesses.Reducing barriers to accessing financial capital and technical assistance as part
ofbusiness continuity planning would help to ensure recovery of loss of businesses.
29 We welcome industries and sectors’ efforts to promote sustainable development as they embrace
inclusive growth and support the livelihoods of many women, in particular in those sectors where
the proportion of women is increasing.
30 We advocate for public and private investments on “green infrastructure” and for women to be
consulted on gender-inclusive spatial designs. Disaster recovery centers should also set up
women-friendly spaces to ensure the safety and specific needs of women.
Integration of Gender Perspectives across APEC
31 We commend efforts by APEC sub-fora to integrate gender in their work, including ongoing
collaborations with the PPWE (See Annex B). We call on all APEC sub-fora to continue
integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment in their work planning and annual
reports.
32 We recognizethe updated Guide on Gender Criteria and the APEC Women and the Economy
Dashboard as useful tools to ensure mainstreaming of gender perspectives across APEC.
Assessing projects using the Gender Criteria enables a conscious effort in engaging women in all
aspects of APEC’s work and in increasing women’s participation in the region. The APEC
Women and the Economy Dashboard is a tool to track, measure, and communicate progress in
reducing barriers to women’s economic participation across our five key priorities. We call on
APEC economies to leverage the Dashboard as a tool to inform policymaking and capacity
building across all APEC work streams, and to improve and expand data collection to strengthen
the utility of the Dashboard.
Towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women
33 We, APEC ministers, heads of delegations, senior officials, representatives of non-governmental
organizations and private sector leaders, affirm Women as Prime Movers for Inclusive Growth
and commit to work towards achieving gender equality and the empowerment of all women, and
building a better world.
APEC Women and the Economy Fora 2016
34 We look forward to our next meeting in Peru for the APEC Women and the Economy Fora and
other related activities in 2016.
Page 12 of 108
Toward APEC Philippines 2015 Economic Leaders’ Meeting in Manila
35 We agree to present this APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement as our
contribution to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting in November in Manila, the Philippines.
Page 13 of 108
Annex A.1: APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement Annex A: Current PPWE Initiatives
Women’s Entrepreneurship
1 The Women's Entrepreneurship in APEC (WE-APEC) initiative, which was launched in 2014,
examined each economy's efforts across government, private sector, and business network
services to promote and support women's entrepreneurship. The findings of the WE-APEC gap
analysis under this initiative offered a detailed view of the landscape for women entrepreneurs in
the APEC region. The economy assessments can be utilized to strengthen eco-systems that
support women's entrepreneurship. The WE-APEC online platform, www.we-apec.com offers a
dynamic directory of service providers for women-owned businesses across APEC and provides a
way for governments, the private sector, business networks and entrepreneurs to connect to each
other.
2 The survey on “Good Practices of Women’s Entrepreneurship in Local Communities in the
Process of Disaster Reconstruction” as well as the workshop held in March 2015 in Sendai, Japan,
on the occasion of the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction highlighted the
important perspectives for women’s economic empowerment. These include the need for
technical skills and knowledge support; the provision of gender-sensitive services to meet
individual needs; the importance of strategic partnership, access to finance and local ownership;
fostering management skills including human resource management; and increasing profits,
innovation and access to the market.
Women’s Leadership
3 The “50 Leading Companies for Women in APEC” project aimed to demonstrate practices in
improving women’s leadership by showcasing efforts of about 50 companies in the APEC region
to empower women in their workplaces. The project can inspire other companies to learn and
enhance women’s leadership and representation in their own respective workplaces.
4 The “Individual Action Plan (IAP) for the Enhancement of the Ratio of Women’s Representation
in Leadership” project was launched to promote women's participation in the economy at all
levels, particularly on leadership, decision-making and management. The IAPs will serve as
mechanisms for measurable and aspirational voluntary goals which economies could work toward
by the end of 2020, with a view to assessing progress of ratio of women's representation in
leadership.
Women and Innovation and Technology
5 The PPWE Multi-year Project “Innovation for Women and Economic Development: Facilitating
Women’s Livelihood Development and Resilience with ICTs” provides women entrepreneurs an
opportunity to exchange views on policies and practices of using information and
communications technology (ICT) tools and assist them in establishing and expanding their
enterprises.
6 The Women’s Business Smart Technology Seminar reaffirmed the potential and importance of
women’s active participation in the economy through smart technology and promoted the building
of knowledge partnerships and formulating regional strategies on the use of smart technology.
Page 14 of 108
Annex A.2: APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement Annex B: Partnerships with other APEC Working Groups
1 The PPWE has partnered with other APEC working groups to incorporate gender equality and
women’s empowerment into their sector-specific public-private dialogues, ministerial meetings,
and projects and programs to ensure that barriers to women’s economic empowerment are
addressed across sectors.
Human Resource Development Working Group (HRDWG)
2 The PPWE is collaborating with the HRDWG to implement training programs for developing the
skills of women, fostering an enabling environment to create better quality jobs for women, and
establishing capacity building centers to help women achieve competencies to meet the demands
of industry, as well as enhance educational opportunities for women and girls.
HRDWG and Health Working Group (HWG)
3 Full participation of women in the economy is essential to achieve inclusive economic growth;
however, women’s ability to access economic opportunities is sometimes hindered by health
concerns. Thus, the PPWE is collaborating with the HRDWG and HWG on the “Healthy
Women, Healthy Economies” initiative. A Policy Toolkit was developed to address health-related
barriers specific to women so they can join, remain and rise in the work force. The Policy Toolkit
includes policy recommendations and practices on: workplace health and safety; health access and
awareness; gender-based violence, sexual and reproductive health; and work/life balance. The
Policy Toolkit can serve as a guide to APEC member economies in implementing actions on a
voluntary basis and choosing actions appropriate for their economy.
Transportation Working Group (TPTWG)
4 Women’s inclusion in transportation, both as employees and users, is crucial to achieving full
economic potential. In line with the directive of the Transportation Ministers, we will work with
the Transportation Working Group (TPTWG) to develop and implement a framework for the
collection of data and implementation of best practices that will enhance opportunities and
measure progress for women in transportation. The Women in Transportation (WiT) Task Force
will work with the PPWE to establish a “network of champions” from each economy to shape,
coordinate, plan, and execute the proposed framework across its five pillars: education,
recruitment, retention, leadership and safe use, and access to transportation systems.
Emergency Preparedness Working Group (EPWG)
5 Recognizing that the Asia-Pacific is the most natural disaster-affected region, the PPWE
collaborated with the EPWG to identify and address the needs and concerns of women and girls in
emergency preparedness and post-disaster recovery and resilience.
6 The outcome of the PPWE project “Good Practices of Women Entrepreneurship in Local
Communities in the Process of Local Reconstruction” has been shared with the EPWG as a
valuable reference for achieving inclusive and sustainable recovery in the post-disaster phase,
which can also contribute to the enhanced linkage between the two working groups.
Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group (SMEWG)
7 The case for increased participation of women-led SMEs in export and global markets is
compelling from both a developmental and economic perspective. Recognizing that APEC
economies can grow and create jobs by offering gender-responsive trade promotion services, the
project “Promoting SME Development: Assisting Women-Owned SMEs Access the Global
Markets” focused on strengthening trade promotion agencies to better serve women-led SMEs.
Page 15 of 108
Economic Committee (EC)
8 The project “Capacity Building for the Reduction of Educational Gender Gaps through Structural
Reforms” was launched to enhance education with equal opportunities for women in APEC
economies. With this purpose, the project focuses on improving the capacity of civil servants to
adapt, design, implement and evaluate gender gap reduction policies. The project is directly
related to the APEC New Strategy for Structural Reform (ANSSR), as well as the SME and
Women Development pillar, which has driven the recent activities of the Economic Committee.
Page 16 of 108
Annex B: Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy 2 Meeting
Summary Report Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE) 2 Meeting
16 September 2015 | 08:30 AM – 04:30 PM
Summit Halls C and D, Philippine International Convention Center
Metro Manila, Philippines
As approved by the APEC SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE), the Policy
Partnership on Women and the Economy or PPWE held two meetings this year (as
necessary). Both meetings were chaired by Ms. Emmeline L. Verzosa of the Philippine
Commission on Women. Ten member economies were represented in the first meeting held
in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea (PNG). PPWE 1 provided an avenue for economies to
report on the completed and on-going projects and initiatives; to discuss the 2015 PPWE
Work Plan; and to update the PPWE Terms of Reference and Guide on Gender Criteria for
APEC Project Proposals. Members approved the PPWE Strategic Plan 2015-2018 in
principle and also came up with the draft APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora
Statement.
The PPWE met for the second time in the Philippines. Eighteen member economies from
Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Indonesia, Japan,
Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore,
Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States, and Viet Nam participated actively in the meeting.
Welcome Remarks and Opening Message
Department of Trade and Industry Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado, Chair of the APEC
Women and the Economy 2015 Fora, warmly welcomed the delegates to the Philippines.
Having hosted APEC for the second time since 1996, she shared how the women’s agenda
has always been vital for the Philippines. In 1996, the Women Leaders’ Network was
founded. Though this network was an informal one and not event part of the official APEC
structure, it has called on the attention of APEC officials to discuss women’s issues in the
Asia Pacific region. Hence in 1998, the first APEC Ministerial Meeting on Women was held
in Makati, Philippines which led to the publication of the Framework for the Integration of
Women in APEC. As time went by, the APEC WE Chair stated that the focus shifted on
concretizing and strategizing on how to advance women’s economic empowerment.
The APEC WE Chair congratulated PPWE for its initiative to hold two PPWE Meetings
annually, if necessary, as it has demonstrated strong will to sustain meaningful efforts in
pushing forward the women’s economic agenda. As she concluded her speech, the APEC
WE Chair laid out the objectives of the PPWE, which aims to draw up a cutting-edge policy
Statement on Women and the Economy and highlight the possible avenues for women and
development by considering the five (5) key pillars impacting women’s economic
empowerment — 1) access to capital and assets; 2) access to markets; 3) skills, capacity
building, and health; 4) leadership, voice and agency; and 5) innovation and technology.
Adoption of the PPWE 1 Meeting Summary
Upon the call of the PPWE Chair Ms. Verzosa, member economies formally adopted the
Summary of the PPWE 1 Meeting, which was held in Port Moresby, PNG on 3-5 May 2015.
Page 17 of 108
Adoption of the Agenda
The Agenda is outlined as follows:
1) Update on the utilization of the Guide on Gender Criteria for APEC Project Proposal;
2) Update on the use of the Women and the Economy Dashboard;
3) Discussion on the implementation of the PPWE Strategic Plan 2015-2018;
4) Report on the projects of other APEC fora with PPWE participation or infusion of
gender equality and women’s economic empowerment provisions; and
5) Finalize the Statement of the Women and the Economy 2015 Fora.
The PPWE Chair invited the Economies to endorse the Agenda, which was done accordingly.
Update on the Utilization of Guide on Gender Criteria for APEC Project
Proposals
The Guide on Gender Criteria for APEC Project Proposals is a tool used to assess the gender-
responsiveness or gender elements of project proposals being submitted to the APEC
Secretariat. It provides a range of approaches to addressing gender issues, from basic to more
complex, depending on the type of project.
Following the abolition of the Project Assessment Steering Committee (PASC), a Gender
Focal Point has been appointed in the APEC Secretariat in the person of Ms. Penelope
Howarth. Ms. Howarth reviews concept notes and project proposals submitted to the APEC
Secretariat to determine if this complies with the Guide on Gender Criteria for APEC Project
Proposals.
On behalf of Ms. Howarth and the Project Management Unit, the PPWE Program Director
Ms. Romy Tincopa delivered the report. Recognizing gender as a cross cutting issue, Ms.
Tincopa updated the body that the APEC Secretariat undertook two different activities to
support gender mainstreaming.
The first one was through information sharing by reporting on the outcomes of PPWE 1
Meeting, APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard, and Guide on Gender Criteria for
APEC Project Proposals. For instance in the last SOM 3 in Cebu, Ms. Tincopa shared that
several Program Directors integrated gender presentations in their respective fora.
On the other hand, out of a total of forty two (42) project proposals assessed by the APEC
Secretariat for Project Session 1 this year, twenty one (21) satisfactorily addressed the
gender criteria in their first submission. Proposals that did not satisfactorily address the
gender criteria were returned with feedback and constructive suggestions about how the
project could be improved and become gender responsive. Through this iterative process
between the APEC Secretariat and the project overseers, all project proposals in Project
Session 1 were ultimately assessed as satisfactorily addressing the gender criteria, although in
most cases there was not a high level of ambition to go beyond the basic level. For
comments and suggestions, member economies could send this to the APEC Secretariat
Program Director.
Ms. Tincopa also shared a draft Cross-cutting Issues Map prepared by the APEC Secretariat
which maps the structure of various APEC fora that are undertaking work on gender-related
issues.
Page 18 of 108
Update on the use of the APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard
To further mainstream gender perspective across APEC fora and to track its progress, Mr.
Carlos Kuriyama of the APEC Secretariat Policy Support Unit (PSU) reported that the APEC
Women and the Economy Dashboard has been finalized and will soon be available online.
The APEC WE Dashboard is an initiative that seeks to provide a snapshot of the status of
women in APEC, by looking at a set of indicators to measure progress of women’s
participation in economicrelated activities and women’s inclusion in several aspects of life.
The Dashboard has almost eighty (80) indicators, classified along the five PPWE pillars.
Mr. Kuriyama thanked economies for sending through additional inputs and data for the
APEC WE Dashboard. Although he noted that the new data did not change the conclusions
or any trend based on the report presented in May 2015.
In the recently conducted APEC WE Dashboard Workshop on 15 September 2015,
participating economies were able to develop a short list of indicators on health and safety,
financial services, literacy, outreach and learning, competitive access for entrepreneurs,
among others. The active participation of member economies and the national data they have
provided made the Dashboard a robust tool for tracking, measuring, and communicating
progress in reducing barriers to women’s economic participation. Economies were
encouraged to implement elements of the Dashboard.
Discussion on the Implementation of the PPWE Strategic Plan 2015-2018
The PPWE Strategic Plan 2015-2018 was approved in principle by the Economies based on
the agreements made during the PPWE 1 Meeting in PNG.
The Strategic Plan envisions a “Strong sustainable, balanced economic growth in the APEC
region that is more inclusive and enabling for women to succeed and advance.” The PPWE
mission is to mainstream, elevate and integrate gender responsive policies and programs
focused on women’s economic empowerment into APEC activities to advance gender
equality. It has three objectives:
1) Strengthen the integration of gender responsive policies and program across APEC
fora;
2) Advance women’s economic participation through the five priority pillars –access to
capital and assets; access to markets; skills, capacity building and health; leadership,
voice and agency; and innovation and technology; and
3) Strengthen the foundation and operating structures of the PPWE and the Women and
the Economy Forum.
During the discussion on how to move forward the implementation of the Strategic Plan,
economies suggested to develop Guidelines on gender mainstreaming into the APEC fora in
2017. The PPWE Chair commented that this might be timely to update the 1998 Framework
for the Integration of Women in the APEC agenda. This is to ensure that gender
mainstreaming really works. However, the discussion was not able to define who among the
Economies will work on developing the Guidelines.
The PPWE being part of the APEC SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE), the
PPWE Chair shared that she personally reported on the completed, on-going, and proposed
Page 19 of 108
projects under the PPWE as well as provided updates on the upcoming APEC WE 2015 Fora
on 4 September 2015 in Cebu, Philippines.
Completed On-going Proposed
APEC Women's Business
and Smart Technology
Seminar – Empowering
APEC Women's Economic
Performance using Smart
Technology: Supporting
Policies and Training
(Republic of Korea)
The Individual Action Plan
for the Enhancement of the
Ratio of Women’s
Representation in
Leadership (Japan)
Successful Cases of
Women-Owned SMEs in
Foreign Trade (Chile)
50 Leading Companies for
Women in APEC (Japan)
Innovation for Women and
Economic Development –
Facilitating Women’s
Livelihood Development
and Resilience with ICTs
(Chinese Taipei)
Women’s Business and
Smart Technology
Seminar and Smart Start-
up Support System –
Leveraging Smart
Technologies & Global
Best Practices for APEC
Women Entrepreneurs
(Republic of Korea)
Good Practices of
Women’s
Entrepreneurship in the
Process of Disaster
Reconstruction (Japan)
Healthy Women, Healthy
Economies (USA)
Guidelines for Women’s
Involvement in Science,
Technology and
Innovations (Russia)
Women’s
Entrepreneurship in APEC
(WE-APEC) Network
(USA)
Women’s Access to
Financial Services Data in
the APEC Region (Papua
New Guinea)
Minor revisions made on the PPWE Strategic Plan were the following:
1) The first two paragraphs under Objective 1 was moved to the beginning of the
document to act as an Introduction; and
2) The Economies agreed to change the title “Key Performance Indicators” to “Targets.”
The following were discussed during the rundown of programs and activities indicated in the
Strategic Plan Implementation Schedule:
1) The trade facilitation under the GREAT Women Project was moved to 2016 as the
Philippine Government has to continue the consultation with the private sector for this
project;
2) New Zealand proposed that the project with the working title “Women and
Renewable Energy” be removed from the document;
3) “Women in Corporate Boards,” which was proposed by the Philippines, is still subject
to discussion with Japan. It was pointed out that the Women’s Business Council
Philippines (WBCP) and the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) are also
involved in this project;
4) The Healthy Women, Healthy Economies toolkit was launched on September 16,
2015 in Manila. The toolkit contains “strategies and practices that Economies may
pursue to unleash the economic power of women through better health;”
Page 20 of 108
5) The project called “Innovation for Women and Economic Development – Facilitating
Women’s Livelihood Development and Resilience with ICTs” by Chinese Taipei was
noted as an ongoing project;
6) Chile clarified that its project on capacity building for the reduction of education
gender gaps through structural reform is under the outcome on capacity building and
not on ICT; and
7) It was clarified that the implementation of the annual private sector forum/meeting to
incorporate private sector, academia, entrepreneurs, and civil society’s voice and
expertise into policy discussion is on a voluntary basis.
The Economies proceeded to report on their Individual Action Plan (IAP) aligned to the
Strategic Plan and 5 Priority Pillars, on a voluntary basis:
JAPAN
Japan reported that it already received fourteen (14) IAPs for its project on the “Individual
Action Plan for the Enhancement of the Ratio of Women’s Representation in Leadership”
and that those IAPs have already been uploaded at the APEC website. Other Economies that
have not yet submitted their IAPs were encouraged to do so. The delegation also reported
about the project on “Good Practices of Women’s Entrepreneurship in Local Communities in
the Process of Disaster Reconstruction.”
A presentation was also made by the President of the Colabolabo Company, Ms. Kyoko
Yokota, on “Female Entrepreneurs and Support for Market Access in Japan.” Her company
provides business support for female entrepreneurs and manages a website called
womanpresident.net, which is a platform for networking, marketing, and sales opportunities.
More detailed report shall be presented by the Head of Delegation to the High Level Policy
Dialogue on Women and the Economy (HLPD on WE).
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
The delegation from Papua New Guinea thanked the Host Economy for its compliments for
PNG’s hosting of the PPWE 1 Meeting in May 2015. The delegation also shared that it plans
to formulate policies and legislations in relation to the PPWE Strategic Plan 2015-2018 and
to address gender equality and women’s empowerment in PNG. A full report on these plans
will be presented during the HLPD on WE on 18 September 2015.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (USA)
The USA delegation gave an update on the project “Women’s Entrepreneurship in APEC
(WE-APEC) Network”, which identifies existing networks of women-owned businesses in
the APEC economies.A workshop was held in June 2015 in Singapore to share information
on a minimum of six hundred fifty (650) women entrepreneurs’ network in the region and
talk about the next steps, which include:
1) Creating a platform / tool for women entrepreneurs to connect in the region;
2) Bringing women entrepreneurs in the PPWE; and
3) Establishing a steering committee with a representative from each Economy.
Page 21 of 108
The delegation reported that the Women’s Entrepreneurship Portal will be launched on 17
September 2015.
The USA delegation also reported the launch of the initiative called “Women’s
Entrepreneurial Centers of Resources, Education, Access, and Training for Economic
Empowerment (WECREATE),” which is a safe place for women to access information
services, childcare services, programs to minimize the risk of exposure of women to gender-
based violence, and other services.
There is also the Spark Global Coalition, which is a call for action to generate investments
from private sector for emerging entrepreneurs. A public private partnership competition
called “InnovateHER,” where entrepreneurs pitch products and services to empower women
and their families.The Alliance for Artisan Enterprise was also launched to support artisan
products. The US government is also encouraging more states to pass state-wide family
leave programs to increase labor force participation of women and participation of women in
non-traditional occupations. An Executive Order to federal contractors on pay transparency
was released, which encourages workers to discuss their pays without discrimination.
CHINESE TAIPEI
The Chinese Taipei delegation reported on its multi-year project called “Innovation for
Women and Economic Development – Facilitating Women’s Livelihood Development and
Resilience with ICTs,” which illustrates how women use ICT for business in the digital area.
The delegations from Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Russia, and Singapore also
reported on their initiatives to advance women’s economic empowerment.
AUSTRALIA
The delegation from Australia shared updates on the following:
1) Women’s increased financial literacy;
2) Raising women’s representation in the Board room;
3) Reducing gender participation gap;
4) Providing affordable childcare system, a tax system for working women and families,
and economic security and retirement benefits for women;
5) Encouraging female force participation in non-traditional fields;
6) Addressing discrimination related to pregnancy; and
7) Availability of a website catering to working parents.
INDONESIA
The delegation from Indonesia provided updates on the following:
1) Gender mainstreaming in planning, budgeting, etc.;
2) Capacitating women in SMEs through training and financing;
3) Establishment of the Academy of Entrepreneurship for capacity and skills building on
marketing, product packaging, financial literacy, business mentoring, and others; and
4) Statistics on women in decision-making positions.
Page 22 of 108
PHILIPPINES
The Philippine delegation reported that the GREAT Women Project (GWP) has now become
its own brand and platform. With funding from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade
and Development Canada, a second phase of the GWP will run from 2015 to 2021, which
will continue to strengthen convergence between economic agencies and assist twelve
thousand (12,000) women Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to be more
competitive and sustainable.It was also shared that the private sector partners of the GWP
were tapped by US ATARI to bring the brand and platform to ASEAN countries like
Thailand, Cambodia, and Indonesia. The Philippines will also conduct the pilot testing of the
Healthy Women, Healthy Economies Toolkit. With regard to the Women and the Economy
Dashboard, the Philippines committed to take part in SME trainings and incubation.
RUSSIA
The delegation from Russia shared statistics on loans and grants given to women and women
entrepreneurs. Non-governmental organizations are also active in skills and capacity
building of women.
SINGAPORE
The delegation from Singapore shared that what it lacks from natural resources, it makes it up
by providing an enabling environment and investing and maximizing the potential of its
people regardless of gender, race, or creed. Singapore stressed that its women have equal
opportunities and access to fundamental resources like education and healthcare. Singapore’s
statistics of women participation in the civil service and Supreme Court were also reported as
well as its need to increase the number of women in the Board rooms and private sectors.
Singapore also shared that it has already set up twelve (12) Small and Medium Enterprises
centers to provide assistance to capital and markets, as well as other in other areas of concern.
There were also presentations made by Papua New Guinea and Canada on its Project
Proposal and Initiative to further infuse gender equality and women’s economic
empowerment across APEC work streams, respectively.
Presentation of the Concept Note on “Women’s Access to Financial Services Data
in the APEC Region” by Papua New Guinea
The project recognizes APEC’s lack of data on women accessing financial services and aims
to collect data on women’s access to financial services and identify barriers to such services,
and provide key recommendations to contribute to policy development on financial services.
The Philippines, Peru, United States of America, and Indonesia have agreed to co-sponsor the
project. Indonesia also recommended for this project to also provide sex-disaggregated data.
The Papua New Guinea delegation shared that the project will begin is data collection in the
1st and 2
nd quarter of 2016 and will hold a workshop on sharing best practices on women’s
access to financial services and promoting inclusive growth sometime in 1st quarter 2017. By
the end of 2017, a documentation based on the outcome of the workshop is expected to be
released.
Page 23 of 108
Report on “Dedicated MSME Sub-fund and Policy Support Facility” by Canada
The Canada delegation explained that this is still a project proposal that stemmed from the
lack of a dedicated funding facility for MSME-related projects within APEC. The approval
of this project will increase direct support for MSMEs and enhance Canada’s policy and
research leadership on MSMEs. By the end of the presentation, the United States of America
expressed its positive outlook on the approval of the project.
One of the targets set by PPWE is to collaborate with and influence at least ten (10) APEC
fora by 2018. The Meeting reported that there are already nine (9) APEC cross-fora
collaboration (in various degrees) which are the following:
1) Emergency Preparedness Working Group – recognizes the impact of disasters on
women, children, elderly and PWDs;
2) Transportation Working Group – has produced a framework for benchmarking and
tracking the participation and influence of women as transportation workers,
entrepreneurs, leaders and travellers and will be holding a conference on Women in
Transportation in October in Cebu;
3) Health Working Group – together with the HRDWG and PPWE has launched the
Healthy Women, Healthy Economy Tool Kit which provides a guide to eliminate
health-related barriers specific to women so they can join, remain, and rise in the
work force. It contains policy recommendations and practices on five (5) areas:
workplace health and safety; health access and awareness; gender-based violence;
sexual and reproductive health; and work/life balance;
4) Human Resource Development Working Group – implements training programs
for women to create better quality jobs and increase their competitiveness;
5) Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group – has included a focus on
microenterprises majority of whom are women so they can grow and create jobs and
have better access to markets through gender-responsive trade promotion services;
6) Telecommunications Working Group – with a couple of ICT related projects in
PPWE, this cross-cuts with the work of the TWG;
7) Economic Committee – a project on capacity building for the reduction of
educational gender gaps through structural reforms was launched to enhance
education with equal opportunities for women in APEC economies. With this
purpose, the project focuses on improving the capacity of civil servants to adapt,
design, implement and evaluate gender gap reduction policies. The project is directly
related to the ANSSR, as well as the SME and Women Development pillar, which has
driven the recent activities of the Economic Committee;
8) Energy Working Group – there was an information provided that women’s
involvement in renewable sources of energy were being discussed in this fora; and
9) Anti-Corruption Working Group – includes discussion on trafficking in persons,
most of whom are women and children.
The PPWE recognized the efforts of all nine working groups to integrate gender in their
projects and policy statements. PPWE looked forward to stronger collaborations to achieve
concrete and sustainable results that will impact the lives of women in the Asia-Pacific.
After the discussions and reporting, the PPWE Chair then called for the formal adoption
of the PPWE Strategic Plan 2015-2018.
Page 24 of 108
APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement
The PPWE worked on the APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement which
contains concrete and actionable recommendations categorized along the three sub-themes of
the APEC WE 2015 Fora: 1) Women and Inclusive Business; 2) Women in the International
Markets and Global Value Chains; and 3) Women and Sustainable Development. The APEC
WE 2015 Fora Statement was deemed endorsed by the body for adoption to the High Level
Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy.
Chair’s Closing Remarks
The Peru delegation expressed its gratitude to the host of the APEC WE Fora 2015 and
invited all Economies to Peru for APEC 2016.
The PPWE Chair delivered her closing remarks by highlighting the next steps to be done:
1) Submission of the Strategic Plan 2015-2018 to the SCE;
2) Filling in of projects in the Strategic Plan 2015-2018 Implementation Schedule; and
3) Conduct of the PPWE Management Council Meeting that will be co-chaired by the
Philippines, China, and Peru, and attended by two delegates per economy and ABAC
representatives.
Finally, the PPWE Chair acknowledged the hard work of all the delegation on the finalization
of the APEC WE 2015 Fora Statement and encouraged men’s active engagement for the
achievement of gender equality.
Page 25 of 108
Annex C: Public Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy
Summary Report Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE) 2 Meeting
17 September 2015 | 08:30 AM – 06:00 PM
Reception Hall, Philippine International Convention Center
Metro Manila, Philippines
Executive Summary
The Public Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy (PPDWE) was held in Manila on
17 September 2015 and served as a platform for a highly informative, inspiring, and
insightful exchange of information and insights on women empowerment and integration in
global trade and business.
Over 800 individuals from 19 member economies of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
(APEC) attended the event. Of this number, 82% were women, 19% were men; 58% came
from the private sector while the rest came from the public sector.
H.E. President Benigno S. Aquino III graced the forum as keynote speaker. In his speech,
President Aquino assured the PPWDE participants of the Philippines’ commitment in
expanding opportunities for women, adding that the “issue of gender equality calls for
continuous reflection and corresponding action.” He shared that the Philippines was cited in
the World Economic Forum (WEF) Gender Gap Report 2014 as the top-ranking Asian
economy in terms of closing gender gaps. The Philippines ranked 9th
out of 142 economies
and was the only Asian economy in the top 10 ranked economies.
The WEF Gender Gap Report 2014 reveals that gender gaps remain although there has been
progress in closing these across the world. At the Forum, the speakers discussed global
developments seen to impact on efforts to empower women and engage them in economic
activities. These include the following:
Rise of technology and digital economy
Increasing number of the millennial workforce
Changing work landscape allowing more virtual / off-site / work-from-home
arrangements
Improved awareness and discussions on inclusive business as an emerging field
Greater opportunities for young women compared to previous years
Recommendations for women empowerment and gender equality that were gathered at the
PPDWE were as follows:
1) Increase gender diversity in boards starting with government owned and controlled
corporations (GOCCs), government financial institutions, and publicly listed
companies. Establish a quota for women seats on Corporate Boards and incorporate
gender diversity language into corporate governance codes of each country.
2) Adopt the gender lens in establishing financial support and training for businesses.
Funnel investments in private sector companies with innovative gender policies that
extend across their supply chains. Provide direct capital to companies and social
enterprises that offer products and services benefiting women and girls.
Page 26 of 108
3) Establish ICT infrastructure that will connect women in businesses into customers and
markets, value chain support, mentoring and networking initiatives, as well as e-
commerce programs.
4) Invest on the youth, particularly on science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics (STEM) education. Develop women STEM professionals and increase
the number of women in the fields of information technology, research, and
innovation.
5) Invest in talent management and development. Conduct mentoring programs for
women, grant scholarships, and conduct skills training and capability building for
women, including leadership training for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises
(MSMEs) and women-owned enterprises.
6) Initiate programs for those who are at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP). Increase
engagement and participation of low-income women in order to create and develop
policies, laws, and programs that are more responsive to their needs and in alignment
with on-ground realities. Support more inclusive businesses particularly those with
explicit women empowerment in their business strategy.
7) Start gender equality advocacies and technology discussions at home. Increase
awareness and appreciation on gender advocacies and women empowerment among
children, spouses, relatives, and friends. Find ways to allow more young girls to learn
technology so that they may harness it in future efforts for inclusive growth and
women empowerment.
8) Continue collaboration among the government, business sector, and civil society in
designing and implementing programs for women.
9) Develop policies that will call on government offices to dedicate a percentage of their
procurement for MSMEs and women-owned enterprises.
10) Identify role models who can serve as inspiration for young women in pursuing their
goals and objectives whether it is in the field of entrepreneurship, technology,
education, or social development.
About the APEC Women and Economy 2015 Fora and the Public Private
Dialogue on Women and the Economy
On 15-18 September 2015, the Philippines hosted the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation
Women and the Economy (APEC WE) 2015 Fora, guided by the theme “Women as Prime
Movers of Inclusive Growth.” The Fora aimed to develop a set of actionable, measurable
and concrete policy recommendations for presentation to the APEC Leaders during their
meeting in November 2015.
One of the components of APEC WE 2015 is the Public Private Dialogue on Women and the
Economy (PPDWE), which was held on 17 September 2015 at the Philippine International
Convention Center in Manila. The PPDWE was organized by the Department of Trade and
Industry (DTI), which serves as Chair of the APEC WE. Together with the DTI are the
Women’s Business Council of the Philippines (WomenBizPh) and the Philippine
Commission on Women (PCW).
WomenBizPh is the premier advocate and resource of APEC on issues faced by business
women in the Philippine private sector, while PCW is the country’s primary policy-making
and coordinating body on women and gender equality concerns.
Page 27 of 108
Over 800 attendees from the government, business, academe, and civil society organizations
across 19 APEC economies joined the event. H. E. President Benigno S. Aquino III graced
the PPDWE as Keynote Speaker.
Attendance Data
19 economies
represented
Delegations headed by:
6 Ministers
7 Deputy Ministers
2 Ambassadors
1 Minister Counsellor
3 Senior Director, Managing Director, Deputy
Director level
Over 800 people
registered
Official delegates:
54% public, 44% private, 2% academe
Guests (Non-Member Participants):
58% private sector
Majority are CEOs, Founders, Managing Directors
37% public sector
2 of 3 are Ministers/ Secretaries, Ambassadors,
Deputy Ministers/ Undersecretaries/ Directors
5% academe
Around 30 student observers; Majority are from
the Philippine Women’s University (PWU), Asia’s
first women college established in 1919 by seven
women from the Philippines
Total: 82% women; 19% men
APEC WE 2015 Fora Website and Mobile Application
On 15 July 2015, the APEC WE 2015 Fora launched the satellite website under APEC 2015
Philippines for the meeting period, accessible at http://apec2015.ph/women/. All delegates
and guests were encouraged to check for updates and announcements on the website prior to
and during the event.
Page 28 of 108
Allowing each session in PPDWE to be more interactive in nature by engaging the audience,
the APEC WE 2015 Fora has launched its mobile application which are available both in
iOS and Android platforms.
Google Play: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.teamasia.apec
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apec-we-2015-fora/id1024041301?ls=1&mt=8
How to download the mobile app:
1. From your mobile phone, click PlayStore or App Store.
2. Search the app “APEC WE 2015 Fora.”
3. It should show the app in the first result.
4. Click install. Usec. Terrado showing the APEC WE 2015 Fora Mobile Application to Hon. Joyce Yen Feng, Head
of the Chinese Taipei delegation.
Page 29 of 108
Plenary Presentations and Panel Discussions
The PPDWE featured six plenary sessions and five panel discussions. See Annex C.1 for the
APEC Women and Economy 2015 Fora: PPDWE Agenda.
PLENARY SESSIONS
• Welcome Remarks, Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado
• Opening Speech, Ms. Doris Magsaysay Ho
• Harnessing the Power of the Crowd, Maria Ressa
• World’s Economic Forum Gender Gap Report 2014, Saadia Zahidi
• Keynote Speech, H.E. President Benigno S. Aquino III
• Closing Remarks
o Kathy Xiaosi Gong (People’s Republic of China)
o Ana Maria Choquehuanca (Peru)
o Ma. Aurora “Boots” Geotina-Garcia (Philippines)
PANEL SESSIONS
• 5 Pillars of Women’s Economic Empowerment
• Young Women Leaders as Powerful Drivers of Change
• Women in the International Markets and Global Value Chains
• Women and Inclusive Business
• Women and Sustainable Development
The succeeding pages provide the highlights of these sessions.
Page 30 of 108
“The overall theme of APEC Women
and the Economy 2015 Fora
“Women as Prime Movers of
Inclusive Growth” reflects our
growing recognition of the role and
power of women to spur business
and economic growth.”
1 WELCOME REMARKS
NORA K. TERRADO
Chair, APEC WE 2015 Fora
Undersecretary, Department of Trade and Industry
Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado officially welcomed the delegates and guests to the APEC
Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Public-Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy.
She started her remarks with a video which highlighted the three (3) pillars of APEC in
advancing free trade for Asia Pacific prosperity: (1) Trade and investment, (2) Business
Facilitation, and (3) Economic and technical cooperation.
Usec. Terrado discussed the historical background of APEC WE 2015 Fora citing it as a
platform that supports integration of women across APEC work streams through
collaboration and gender equality. She expressed optimism that through the efforts of the
working group of the APEC WE 2015 Fora and the results of the PPDWE discussions during
the day, a set of concrete and actionable policy recommendations would be adopted at the
High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy.
The Undersecretary cited some trends for the PPDWE’s consideration as APEC moves
forward in its agenda.
1) Increase of global economy participants from 500 million in 1995 to 7 billion today;
2) Growth in business to consumer ecommerce to 1.5 trillion sales;
3) Women influencing the greater majority of purchasing decisions;
4) Women in western economies using technology more than their male counterparts;
5) Cloud, social media, big data, and mobility creating major disruptions and impacting
women;
6) Virtualization of work, allowing more women to work from home; and
7) Rise of the millennials, many of whom are women.
Usec. Terrado explained gender gaps still exist and more work is required. She is optimistic
however that the line-up of speakers in the PPDWE will provide delegates with insights and
key learnings on women issues and realities. She encouraged everyone to be engaged in the
discussions and to put forward their views and opinions on how women empowerment and
integration in business could be pursued.
Supplemental Information: Copy of Usec. Terrado’s speech can be accessed here: APEC WE Chair Speech
Page 31 of 108
2 OPENING SPEECH
DORIS MAGSAYSAY-HO
Chair, APEC Business Advisory Council
President and CEO, Magsaysay Maritime Corporation
Ms. Magsaysay-Ho emphasized PPDWE’s role in continuing the dialogue on women
participation in trade and the economy. She cited the Forum as an opportunity for women to
share their own experiences and insights with regard to pushing gender equality and women
empowerment.
Ms. Magsaysay-Ho shared two lessons she learned in her life and cited her own experiences
in managing their family’s maritime business. The first lesson refers to being true to one’s
self. She learned that women should harness their unique character as women, and should
not try to be like men, if they wish to succeed.
The second lesson is her realization that women’s success in business must also allow
success at home. Knowing women’s stress in balancing challenges at work and at home, Ms.
Magsaysay-Ho said there should be increased opportunities for women to do their jobs
without sacrificing their personal responsibilities to their families.
Today’s landscape helps bridge the gaps and barriers to include women’s participation in the
economy. Ms. Magsaysay-Ho cited some opportunities for women to better balance work and
family amid this landscape: technology driving virtual work, rise of e-commerce and online
selling, increasing number of companies offering part-time jobs or work-at-home
arrangements, among others.
Supplemental Information: Copy of Ms. Magsaysay-Ho’s speech can be accessed here:
ABAC Chair Speech
3 HARNESSING THE POWER OF THE CROWD
MARIA RESSA
Chief Executive Officer
Rappler
“Every business today is an internet business,” Maria Ressa said
as she opened her presentation. Ressa showed how technology
has changed the business landscape. According to her,
technology has given rise to new business models and has
resulted into exponential growth of many organizations.
She talked about the rise of technology-driven businesses, social
media as businesses’ direct connection to consumers, big data
for collaborative business, and online crowdsourcing – all of
which spell opportunities for organizations, including women.
Technology + Women
= Magic Combination
Page 32 of 108
Ressa shared their experience in Rappler, an online-based media platform, as a case study of
how organizations can leverage on technology. The pace of information flow has become
exponentially faster today that it has dictated changes in the way a media organization like
Rappler does business. Because of technology, Rappler is able to deliver news at a faster pace
without need for infrastructure typically used by traditional broadcast stations. One of its
initiatives, “Project Agos,” harnesses technology to maximize the flow of critical data before,
during, and after disasters. Through data shared by the public, Project Agos proved “help can
come from the crowd”.
4 WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM’S GLOBAL GENDER GAP REPORT
SAADIA ZAHIDI
Senior Director, Gender Parity, Human Capital and Constituents
World Economic Forum
The Gender Gap Report 2014 seeks to understand gaps
between men and women in the areas of health,
education, economic participation, and political
empowerment. It aims to know if women and men in
both developed and less developed economies have the
same rights and opportunities.
The study reveals gender gaps remain although there is progress in closing these across the
world. Of the 142 economies covered by the study, those in Northern Europe such as
Iceland, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and Denmark made it to the list’s top five (5), closing
over 80% of the gender gaps. Chad (140), Pakistan (141) and Yemen (142) were ranked at
the bottom. The Philippines (rank 9) is the only Asian economy included in the top 10.
Kuwait (113) ranked the best among Middle East economies, followed by the United Arab
Emirates (115). Data shows that 105 of the 111 countries originally tracked since 2006 are
making progress in closing these gaps. Saudi Arabia, for example, has made most progress
(relative to itself) in terms of closing gaps in women’s economic participation.
The Gender Gap Report highlights people and talents are key resources driving economies. It
underscores gender equality as vital part of humanity’s progress.
Note: highest possible score is 1 (equality) and lowest possible score is 0 (inequality).
Supplemental Information: Global Gender Gap Report Rankings can be accessed here:
Rankings
Page 33 of 108
5 KEYNOTE SPEECH
H.E. BENIGNO SIMEON AQUINO III
President of the Republic of the Philippines
President Aquino assured PPWDE delegates and guests of the Philippines’ commitment to
expanding opportunities for women, adding that the “issue of gender equality calls for
continuous reflection and corresponding action”.
He recognized the roles of Filipino women in history from the Spanish era to the modern
times, citing among others, women heroes like Gabriela Silang and Tandang Sora, as well as
former President Corazon Aquino. He described women as strong-willed and superior in
many areas. He is confident of women’s roles and contribution in achieving inclusive
growth.
The President spoke of the number of women appointees in various positions in the
Philippine government. Over the years, according to him, women government leaders have
become pillars of the government’s reform agenda. He assured future public servants that
“they would not be defined by their gender” but by their integrity and work ethic.
Women have also proven their roles in driving the Philippines’ economic growth. President
Aquino cited data on women economic participation: 54% of registered trade names are
owned by women while 63% of business owners and managers are women.
He talked about some of government’s initiatives to empower women. These include
TESDA-STAR (Technical Education and Skills Development Authority – Sari Sari Store
Training and Access to Resources), which helps women sari sari storeowners become more
professional in doing business. The program has produced over 30,000 graduates since it
started in 2011. In the area of legislation, the Congress has repealed provisions of the Labor
Law prohibiting women from working on evening shifts.
Supplemental Information: Copy of the President’s speech can be accessed here: PNoy
Speech
“The issue of gender equality
calls for continuous reflection
and corresponding action.”
- H.E. President Benigno S. Aquino III
Page 34 of 108
Photo Opportunity with the President of the Republic of the Philippines, H.E. Benigno
S. Aquino III
President Benigno S. Aquino III and Trade Secretary Gregory L. Domingo together with the Heads of Delegation to the APEC PPDWE held on 17 September 2015 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) Reception Hall, Manila.
APEC WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY 2015 FORA Heads of Delegation
H.E. Bill Tweddell
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of Australia
AUSTRALIA
Hon. Anna Solomon
Secretary
Department of Religion, Youth and
Community Development
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Datin Paduka Hajah Adina Binti Othman
Deputy Minister
Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM
Hon. Marcela Huaita
Minister
Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Peoples
PERU
H.E. Neil Reeder
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
Embassy of Canada
CANADA
Hon. Lilia B. De Lima
Director General
Philippine Economic Zone Authority
PHILIPPINES
Mrs. Alicia Frohmann
Minister Counsellor
National Women’s Service
CHILE
Ms. Natalia Strigunova
Deputy Director
Asia, Africa and Latin America Department
Ministry of Economic Development
RUSSIAN FEDERATION
Page 35 of 108
Mme. Meng Xiaosi
Vice President and Member of the Secretariat
All-China Women’s Federation
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Mrs. Tan Hwee Seh
Senior Director
Office for Women’s Development
Ministry of Social and Family Development
SINGAPORE
Hon. Yohana Susana Yembise
Minister
Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child
Protection
INDONESIA
Dr. Joyce Yen Feng
Minister without Portfolio
CHINESE TAIPEI
Mr. Kazuhiko Ishihara
Vice-Minister for Special Missions
Cabinet Office
JAPAN
Pol. Gen. Suwat Chanitthikul
Vice Minister
Ministry of Social Development and Human
Security
THAILAND
Hon. Heejung Kim
Minister
Ministry of Gender Equality and Family
REPUBLIC OF KOREA
H.E. Catherine Russell
Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women's
Issues
U.S. Department of State
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Senator Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun
Deputy Minister
Ministry of Women, Family and Community
Development
MALAYSIA
Mr. Nguyen Trong Dam
Deputy Minister
Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs
VIET NAM
Dame Wendy Pye
Managing Director
Wendy Pye Publishing Limited
NEW ZEALAND
6 PANEL SESSION: THE GLOBAL GENDER PICTURE
5 PILLARS OF WOMEN’S ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
The panelists discussed the importance of creating avenues for women to effectively
access capital and assets, the international markets, as well as technology. They agreed
on the need to improve women’s skills, capacity, health, and leadership. They called for
efforts that will allow women to have a bigger share of the voice in countries and
organizations.
Heather Cox stressed the need to maximize opportunities arising from developments in
the technology space. Cox advocated for increased number of women joining digital /
technology workforce, citing that in the United States alone, there are one million gaps in
technology jobs.
Page 36 of 108
She believes women should be equipped to work in the new world. She pointed out the need
to ensure that society overcomes misperceptions regarding women’s participation in
technology. She noted that by the 12th
grade, boys are four (4) times likely to be placed in
advance computer science programs than girls.
For Cox, diversity helps organizations come up with the best
solutions to issues and problems. Closing the gender gap impacts
on every aspect of the economy. Cox cited a Citibank study
showing that achieving gender equality for millions of people
can generate US$12 trillion worth of growth.
Hafimi bte Abdul Haadii pointed out that any economy,
regardless of size, could create positive impact on women
provided stakeholders work together. She talked about three
initiatives that proved women could access markets better given
relevant support.
1. Cross E-Commerce Training (CBET). An initiative of
the APEC Business Advisory Council, CBET provides
women training and e-commerce tools to help them reach the
global marketplace.
2. Cherie Blair Foundation. By combining technology and
mentoring, the Foundation provides women with cross-
border support in increasing their market access.
3. The Collective. A group of young women in Brunei
joined forces to do business with social aspect. Relying
heavily on social media, they create pop-up events with great
impact and buzz.
4. Yasmin. An Indie film about a girl who wants to become
a silat (Brunei’s combat sport) champion. The film is
produced through public-private cooperation and will be
marketed internationally.
Belén Garijo recommended investing in health and education, with focus on women, in
order to realize economic growth and competitiveness. She encouraged women to continue
to take action, adding that effective public-private collaboration and strong leadership are
imperative to achieve gender equality goals.
Cancer is more prevalent among women and women suffer 60% more deaths from certain
communicable diseases. Dr. Garijo explained there is need to obtain data on prevalence
factors and indicators on women’s health in order for medical practitioners to improve
clinical outcomes.
In education, Dr. Garijo noted women’s under-representation in science, technology,
engineering, and mathematics (STEM) – this despite the fact that females outperform males
on science scores and that they are at par in mathematics performance. She called on
delegates to move faster in creating the right incentives in the area of capacity building for
women in order for women to integrate themselves better into STEM. By 2012, there will be
an opening of 1.2 million jobs in STEM fields.
PANELISTS HEATHER CARROLL COX Chief Client Experience Digital and Marketing Head, Citi HAFIMI BTE ABDUL HAADII Director/ Shareholder, LVK Group of Companies BELÉN GARIJO CEO and President, Merck Healthcare IRENE NATIVIDAD President, Global Summit of Women and Chair, Corporate Women Directors International CHAO-CHIA HUANG Managing Director, LoFTechnology, Inc. MODERATOR MARIA RESSA CEO, Rappler
Page 37 of 108
Chao-Chia Huang talked about technology and innovation inspired by his experience in
his own start-up company. Huang’s start-up had sprung from a government program aiming
to introduce technology to the countryside. He has a female partner whom he said gives a
different point of view and attitude, motivates people, and provides warmth in the company.
For Huang, start-ups must be willing to create “disruptions” by embracing risks, going
beyond status quo, and making their own rules.
He encouraged innovation and use of technology. In his presentation deck, he wrote that data
is the foundation of the information age. He quoted David Buckingham who said, “data is
the new oil.” He encouraged teaching programming to schoolchildren and suggested to
integrate basic language curriculum in education system. This curriculum includes logic
(language of machines) together with Arts (language of the soul), English (language of
people), and Math (language of physics).
Huang believes gender equality / diversity must start from the home. For him, parents
should help children prepare to act and live in the digital and tech world of the future.
Irene Natividad challenged women to be the key to finding gender equality solutions.
She advocated for increased representation of women in corporate boards globally. She
stressed that while women CEOs exist, women continue to be under-represented in top
corporations in many industries in the United States. In fact, she said, only 27 of the CEOs of
the top 500 companies are women. Women remain as outsiders in the economy.
Natividad stressed that the women sector is not a market niche but THE market of the 21st
century. Currently, women occupy 40%-50% of the workforce and have a 30%-40%
consumer clout. There is a business case for why women should be in each part of the value
chain strategy, including the corporate board setting.
According to Natividad, putting women on corporate boards is a top-down strategy to
integrate more women into the managerial world. She pushed for setting quotas on women
board participation and incorporating gender diversity into corporate governance codes. She
shared that Malaysia’s women board seats improved from 6% to 12% when it applied the
quota strategy while Australia saw an increase of 11% in women board seats (9% to 20%)
after making gender diversity language in corporate governance codes a listing requirement.
She called on members of APEC, particularly US, China and Japan, to adopt a national
strategy to improve corporate leadership roles.
During the Open Forum, panelists stressed the importance of the following in closing gender
gaps:
Having fast and affordable internet access
Re-wiring the education system to give priority to coding and STEM
Increasing public-private partnerships
Continuing forum and dialogue on women
Innovation – doing something different
Page 38 of 108
7 PANEL SESSION: YOUNG WOMEN LEADERS AS POWERFUL DRIVERS
OF CHANGE
Young speakers shared their experiences in starting
and pursuing their respective enterprises. They were
one in saying that having role models and mentors
are important to help young women succeed in their
chosen fields. One of them encouraged the audience
to “invest in the millennial”.
Kathy Xiaosi Gong shared her views and insights as
founder and CEO of a business consulting firm and a
logical and data driven company.
She highlighted the importance of creating products that
would make business dealings across borders easier
amid today’s landscape characterized by frequent
movements and changes. It is critical for young women
to understand how businesses can compete in a world
where there are multiple and similar products. Gong
said business ideas and functions of companies should
reflect the values of the entrepreneurs and the people
behind it. She is confident that values and commitment
can change the world.
Anna Nesterova founded and led her investment
company, Center Capital, to growth. The company
survived the financial crisis in 2008 to 2009 and the
Russian securities market recession in 2014.
Nesterova talked about some key projects of Center Capital, including an SME Internet Portal
and a funding program for children. Fully aware of the opportunities that free trade among
developing economies brings, Nesterova and her company created a special BRICS, Latin
America, and Southeast Asia SME Internet Portal. Launched only this year, the portal helps
businessmen from different economies look for best partners in selling goods and services
abroad.
Another major project is “Children’s Future” which provides opportunity for parents to save
and preserve investments for their children. It guarantees parents’ income equal to the
inflation score plus interest.
Marita Cheng shared her story in starting and growing 2Mar Robotics, a company based
in Australia that builds robots to help people in their everyday lives. 2Mar is developing
Jeva, a mobile phone-controlled robotic arm that seeks to help people with limited upper
mobility in their daily tasks. This robotic arm is functional and could help people with
disabilities feed themselves, take medicines, brush their teeth, pick-up hard to reach objects,
open doors, etc.
PANELISTS KATHY XIAOSI GONG Founder & CEO, Pinpoint Founder & Chair, KG Inc. and Seeway Group ANNA NESTEROVA Chief Executive Officer, Investment Company Center Capital MARITA CHENG Founder and CEO, 2Mar Robotics VICTORIA LENNOX Co-Founder and CEO, Start Up Canada MARIA MAY-I FABROS Board Member for the Youth, Philippine Commission on Women MODERATOR BOY ABUNDA TV Host, Celebrity Management and Marketing Consultant
Page 39 of 108
In an economy where only 10% of engineers are women, Marita’s passion in robotics stood
out. She did have her share of disappointments in building 2Mar, but she remained steadfast
in achieving her goals. Two years after it was founded, 2Mar has now gained the support of
different groups in Australia, including the government. It has also reaped national and
international awards.
Marita’s story inspired young women leaders to believe in their dreams. It encouraged
entrepreneurs to embrace and adapt to changes. It also stressed the importance of having role
models.
Victoria Lennox is a young social entrepreneur who hopes to influence policy making for
entrepreneurships. Her company runs initiatives to help create an environment and culture
for entrepreneurial growth and success.
Lennox underscored the value of having strong female role models in helping young women
succeed, as she cited her own case. Despite being sickly as a child and having been
diagnosed with cancer, Lennox succeeded as an entrepreneur. She advised women to invest
in entrepreneurship on a policy level. She suggested consultation with entrepreneurs would
help policy makers craft measures on gender equality in business.
Canada was named one of the top places in the world for women entrepreneurs. Lennox
shared that in 2011; majority female owned SMEs were slightly more engaged in innovation
activities than majority male owned SMEs. These enterprises were engaged in product
innovation.
Maria May-I Fabros advocated for increased investments in the millennial / youth. She
spoke about the character of today’s young people and how it impacts on what they do.
According to Fabros, people often perceive young people as irreverent or lacking respect for
things that are generally taken seriously. This perceived “irreverence”, however, could be
seen in a positive note. Fabros said this irreverence is what drives the youth to innovate and
move out of their comfort zones. It is the youth’s innovative essence that spurs change. To
translate this youthful character into positive results, young people only need to have role
models and be guided by capable women mentors.
Fabros also discussed concerns confronting young women, such as sex, women’s health, and
teenage pregnancies. She cited how legislative measures like the Sin Tax Law have helped
generate increased resources to address some of these issues.
During the Open Forum, the panelists agreed that while financial success is important, they
also described success as having the ability to create positive impact on people and creating
opportunities to assist them. Many attributed their success to their parents, especially their
mothers who did not enjoy as much opportunities as today’s women.
Page 40 of 108
8 PANEL SESSION: WOMEN IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS AND
GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS
The panelists discussed how the changing face of international markets and global value
chains result to opportunities and challenges for women-led enterprises and for women,
in general. Presentations zoomed in on the digital economy, including e-commerce, as a
key driver for gender equality. The strong business case for women was also
highlighted in this panel session.
Adaire Fox-Martin’s presentation key points focused on the role of technology / digital
in enabling women businesses to access markets beyond their borders. She stressed the
importance of education and training in helping women-owned businesses maximize
technology and move up the value chain.
Martin remarked that the digital economy resulted into better
communication platforms that made today’s business
networks smarter, faster, and more global. For Martin, a
hyper-connected world means greater opportunities for
women. Through digital marketplaces, women entrepreneurs
who used to have limited chances to influence business
networks are now able to do so. Start-ups are not as costly as
it used to; risk-averse women entrepreneurs are able to tap
cloud based tools, web-based services, and e-commerce.
Working arrangements / set-ups are evolving as more women
get the opportunity to work from off-site / anywhere so long
as they have Internet connections.
Ümran Beba talked about the strong business case for
women integration in workplaces. At Pepsi, women’s agenda
is not only a talent sustainability priority; it is a business
imperative, given women’s market size worldwide.
Beba explained that women workforce reflects the profile of a large percentage of their
consumers – shoppers, mothers, etc. Diversity in workplace enables PepsiCo to push
innovation as women bring in “outside in” perspective. Women leadership also provides
different approaches and styles that have been proven to work. Thus, Beba shared, PepsiCo
takes effort to create the right work environment to allow their women employees to be their
true selves and to succeed.
Beba also shared some of PepsiCo’s social initiatives that seek to create positive impact on
women and the communities where they operate. These include “Liter of Light “ , which
repurposes PET bottles as light bulbs and “WaterHope” , a social enterprise that promotes
resource conservation and provides clean water access to thousands of people.
Janette Toral described e-commerce as the gender equalizer of the global economy. Data
shared by Toral showed that by 2020, the global Internet market would be worth US$9.9
trillion, or 12% of total GDP. Asia Pacific countries are expected to have more e-commerce
PANELISTS
ADAIRE FOX-MARTIN
President,
SAP Asia Pacific Japan
ÜMRAN BEBA
Senior Vice President and Chief
HR Officer,
PepsiCo Asia/ Middle East/ Africa
JANETTE TORAL
Site Owner,
DigitalFilipino.com
MODERATOR
MITZI BORROMEO
News Correspondent,
CNN Philippines
Page 41 of 108
purchases compared to North America by 2015. This year alone, e-commerce purchases in
the region reached US$525.2 billion compared with North America’s US$482.6 billion.
Zooming in on the Philippines, Toral expressed optimism on e-commerce’s growth given the
support of the government and other stakeholders. Part of the efforts is to incorporate e-
commerce into the national strategy and to develop an e-commerce roadmap. A challenge in
improving ecommerce in the Philippines is ensuring gender balance, which, Toral said,
should also cover the rights of the LGBT community. Other key deliverables are bandwidth
improvement, anti-cybercrime improvement, customs modernization, tariff/ tax system
simplification, e-commerce education, etc.
During the Open Forum, the discussions continued on the challenges women face. The
panelists talked about women as role models and leaders. They discussed the need to
increase women presence on corporate boards and talked about its positive impact on
companies. They also discussed setting quotas on women participation in the public and
private sector. Policy-wise, there are challenges in creating e-commerce legislations. Other
challenges are cultural prejudices in global work setting and integration of personal and
professional lives (due to connectivity).
9 PANEL SESSION: WOMEN AND INCLUSIVE BUSINESS
The session explored options in trickling business and economic growth to communities
and the lower income population. Increasing inclusive business, having women as key
company workforce, supporting women capability building through CSR, and
encouraging STEM education are some of the recommendations cited by the panelists.
Sonomi Tanaka encouraged support for more inclusive businesses (IB) particularly those
with explicit women empowerment in their business strategy. She described companies
involved in inclusive business as commercially viable enterprises, which, through their core
business operations, create positive social impact on the base of the pyramid population
(BoP) or the poor / low-income people. Tanaka explained that IB is not similar to the
concepts of social enterprise, corporate social responsibility (CSR), micro-enterprises, or
even labor.
Tanaka shared the preliminary findings of an ADB study on IB. The report shows the need to
gather more case studies to help generate better understanding on IB given that it is an
emerging field prone to misunderstanding. It confirms the great potential of IB to help the
BoP population. IB has two types of women empowering impact: (1) creation of job
opportunities for women BoPs in agribusiness; and (2) meeting BoP’s direct needs / wants as
a sales & marketing opportunity. The second type applies to finance, water, education,
energy and health.
Tanaka suggested the adoption of an APEC accreditation and recognition system for gender-
responsive IBs. She also proposed the conduct of information campaign to increase
businesses’ IB awareness.
Page 42 of 108
Nilesh Patel shared Avon’s commitment to women
empowerment. For Avon, an independent woman is a
beautiful woman. Beauty is about having strength and
self-confidence. Patel showed videos that highlighted
Avon’s positioning as a company for women – from
hiring millions of Avon ladies (direct marketing
agents), producing beauty products for women, aiming
to make women financially independent, and
establishing a foundation for women causes.
Adel Tamano discussed Coca Cola’s 3Ws in
creating shared value that impact communities and
contribute to inclusive growth: (1) Well-Being, (2)
Women, and (3) Water. He pointed out that women’s
empowerment is an indispensable requirement for the
company to reach its business goals.
Tamano discussed the company’s point of view on
women empowerment and closing gender gaps.
Women do 66% of the world’s work but they earn only
10% of the world’s income. And yet, women reinvest
90% of their income into their family and community.
To help empower women, Coca Cola launched the
“5by20 Program “in the Philippines. Today, the Program has helped women sari-sari
storeowners become better entrepreneurs through training in bookkeeping, business
management, etc. A beneficiary testified that by applying what she learned from the training,
her monthly revenues more than doubled from PHP6,000 to PhP15,000. Tamano attributed
the success of the program to the collaboration among the government, the business sector,
and civil society, which he called as the Golden Triangle approach.
Malathi Das highlighted the role of science, technology, engineering , and mathematics
(STEM) education for women and girls in pushing gender equality. She suggested to have a
strong policy and to increase investments in order to develop women STEM professionals.
She also encouraged increase in number of STEM role models and mentors. Advocates
believe that role models and mentors reinforce the idea that a future in STEM is achievable.
She talked about two programs that seek to encourage student education on STEM.
Girls2Pioneers program organizes and offers technology day camps for 10-15 year old girls.
The experience allows the girls to cultivate their technological skills in design and
construction, research, planning, improvisation, and engineering. It is followed by field trips
and mentoring sessions with the project’s corporate partners. Another project is Fuel Your
School, a program designed to enhance STEM capabilities of lower secondary school
students in Singapore. It also encourages students to major in STEM-related fields in the
future.
During the Open Forum, the discussions included women’s challenges in moving
themselves out of poverty. Most Overseas Foreign Workers (OFWs) are women, forced to
live away from families to earn better income. More often, the loss of female income has
greater impact on the welfare of the family. And yet, most employers are said to more likely
PANELISTS
SONOMI TANAKA
Technical Advisor,
Social Development, Governance, and
Gender Division, Asian Development Bank
NILESH PATEL
SVP and President,
Asia Pacific Avon Products, Inc.
ADEL TAMANO
Vice President for Public Affairs and
Communications,
Coca Cola Philippines
MALATHI DAS
President,
Singapore Council of Women’s
Organizations
MODERATOR
KAREN DAVILA
Broadcast Journalist, ABS-CBN
Young Global Leader, Women Economic
Forum
Page 43 of 108
lay off a woman than a man. Most women also continue to face barriers in entering the
business sector. The panelists agreed on the need for various sectors of societies – public,
private, non-profit, academe – to invest more on women. In return, women are called to take
advantage of the opportunities given to them. They are advised not to fear leadership.
10 PANEL SESSION: WOMEN AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
The panel session looked at possible roles of women in sustainable development
initiatives in relation to disaster risk planning and management, climate change,
environment, supply chain management, and access to energy. Each panelist agrees that
women’s involvement in these areas result to positive outcomes and should therefore be
continued and increased.
Maria Leni Robredo pointed out the need to economically empower women and
suggested to give women the power of the purse by educating them on savings, investment,
and livelihood opportunities.
The Congresswoman opened her presentation by sharing her on-ground learning on disaster
response and management from impoverished communities and her constituents in
Camarines Sur. She described women in these areas as vulnerable and suffering mostly in
silence because they have no more strength to fight. Women’s role in disaster planning is
limited, Robredo said. Most of them only take action when disaster strikes.
Robredo proposed involving women on the ground in
disaster preparedness and vulnerability assessment. She
also suggested developing home-based livelihood
programs so women need not leave their homes and miss
on their household responsibilities in order to earn. She
emphasized the need to create markets to help women sell
their goods.
For Robredo, the “best solutions to poverty are not found
in the Board Rooms”. She encouraged sustainable
development advocates and stakeholders to find the time
to consult, understand, and fuel the fire of poor
communities and individuals. “Poor people are broke but
are not broken,” she said.
Jeremy Prepscius discussed the positive impact of
healthy and financially literate women workers on
companies. He cited as a case study HERproject, a
program that engages and empowers women in supply
chains (particularly those in factories) through health and
financial education.
PANELISTS
MARIA LEONOR ROBREDO
3RD
District Représentative,
Camarines Sur, Philippines
JEREMY PREPSCIUS
Vice President, Asia Pacific,
Business for Social Responsibility
ANDREA IRARRÁZAVAL
OLAVARRÍA
Founder and CEO,
Clean Energy
LESIELI TAVIRI
General Manager,
Origin Energy
MODERATOR
CHECHE LAZARO
President, Probe Productions Inc.
Editor-at-Large, Rappler
Page 44 of 108
HERproject has two components: HERhealth and HERfinance. Both are grounded on peer-
to-peer education, which means that 3% to 5% of workforces are selected as peer educators.
The health component runs for 12 to 16 months while HERfinance runs for 9 to 12 months.
Overtime, companies running the program observed workers’ improved attitudes towards
health, increased willingness to seek formal health services, increased knowledge on ATM
usage, among others.
Business-wise, the companies noted several positive outcomes such as reduced health-related
absenteeism, reduced error rates, increased worker responsibility for overall safety in the
company, etc. There is also a noted improved relationship between the workers and middle
management.
Andrea Irarrázaval Olavarría shared the story of Clean Energy, a company that
develops “integrated biological systems” for capturing and/or reducing industrial gases. Its
system also sustainably produces bio-composts with high commercial value such as food,
biomass, biodiesel, and fertilizers. The company also generates alternative electrical energy at
controlled costs.
Clean Energy promises various potentials for industrial development, including reduction of
carbon dioxide emissions per year, strengthening environmental practices, etc. Starting with
only 2 people, the company now has 18 employees in Chile and another 18 in Mexico.
Ninety percent (90%) of them are single and single mothers. The Chilean Government has
granted Clean Energy US$1 million in financial support.
Clean Energy is a case study for sustainable development, innovation, and public-private
collaboration.
Lesieli Taviri talked about the linkage between women and sustainable energy through the
Smart Energy Pilot Project, which aims to expand Origin Energy’s LPG distribution network
by providing energy solutions to off-grid communities.
Taviri explained that the electricity grid in Papua New Guinea has only 12% reach. Firewood
and kerosene continue to be the energy source due to accessibility. Her company, Origin
Energy, saw the opportunity to deliver energy sources to communities across their
distribution supply chain. They targeted mothers in off-grid communities who are starting to
look for alternative energy sources as they increasingly realized the health impact of using
traditional firewood.
Taviri shared that after 3 months, the project has resulted into Origin Energy’s widened
distribution network (many dealers are women) and increased LPG sales. In terms of
community impact, Origin Energy saw increased opportunities for women to generate
informal income (e.g., income from mobile phone charging, selling cooked food) because
they now have access to energy.
Today, Origin Energy looks forward to maximizing opportunities to further widen their reach
and make energy more accessible to women. They are looking at possible partnerships with
micro banks. They are also planning to organize environmental awareness campaigns on the
negative impact of using firewood.
Page 45 of 108
During the Open Forum, the panelists shared their views on the difficulties in pushing
women empowerment. Congresswoman Leni Robredo stressed the need for local
government officials to have a change in mindset / perspective on implementing gender-
responsive laws. She explained that while there are several laws on gender equality, some
are not in alignment with the realities faced by women on the ground, making these
ineffective. She suggested engaging women in communities in legislative development and
program planning stage.
For Taviri, the most difficult challenge is the lack of skilled women in Papua New Guinea.
Women in their economy would certainly benefit from skills training program and capability
building. Irarrazaval meanwhile said that access to capital is one of the key concerns for
women empowerment in Chile.
11 CLOSING REMARKS
Kathy Xiaosi Gong expressed her gratefulness for the opportunity to represent China in
the APEC Women and Economy Fora. She shared her belief that women economic
empowerment lies in the heart of every women. She advised women to choose to live life;
for women to seize the moment, to create, to impact, and to love.
She described women as better dreamers than men and natural in creating generous things.
For her, women’s emotional characteristic is at the core of women’s innovative side.
Women-led businesses are not cold, only calculated. Entrepreneurs, in fact, are romantic.
She shared her own story as an entrepreneur and as a
woman. Her own experience showed her that women
entrepreneurs need to create new things: products,
strategies, customers, in order for them to turn their ideas
into realities. She also discovered that what matters is
not the acceptance of others but loving ones’ self.
Ana María Choquehuanca talked about integrating
women into the global economy and removing the
obstacles that hinder women from empowering
themselves. She reported that the multi-stakeholder
round table in Peru has led to public-private partnerships
across Peruvian Departments and that work with private
sector women entrepreneurs in Peru has started.
Choquehuanca said Peru looks forward to advancing the
women’s agenda in the APEC Region as it prepares to
host next year’s APEC Meetings. She closed her
presentation with a video on Peru which described their
economy as land of hidden treasures.
SPEAKERS
CHINA
KATHY XIAOSI GONG
Founder & CEO, PinPoint
Founder and Chair, KG Inc. &
Seeway Group
PERU
ANA MARÍA
CHOQUEHUANCA
President,
Peruvian Association Industrial
Women – PERU MISUR
PHILIPPINES
MA. AURORA “BOOTS”
GEOTINA-GARCIA
Chair,
Women’s Business Council of the
Philippines
Page 46 of 108
Ma. Aurora “Boots” Geotina-Garcia called on PPDWE participants to commit to
pursuing APEC’s women and inclusive growth agenda. She encouraged everyone to keep the
momentum gained in creating new economic opportunities for women going forward.
As Chair of the Women Business Council of the Philippines, Geotina-Garcia outlined the
women private sector’s recommendations to strengthen women empowerment and integration
efforts. These recommendations included the following:
1) Funneling investments to private sector companies with innovative gender policies
that extend across their supply chains and providing direct capital to companies and
social enterprises that offer products and services benefiting women and girls.
2) Establishing ICT infrastructure that will connect women in businesses into value
chain support, mentoring, and e-commerce programs.
3) Developing policies that will call on government offices to dedicate a percentage of
their procurement for MSMEs and women-owned enterprises.
4) Creating an APEC-wide exchange platform for women-owned enterprises and women
suppliers in the region.
5) Increasing gender diversity in boards starting with government owned and controlled
corporations (GOCCs), government financial institutions, and publicly listed
companies.
Geotina-Garcia officially closed the PPDWE as she thanked everyone who was involved in
organizing the event. She also thanked the delegates, resource persons, and guests for their
interest and active participation.
12 FEEDBACK
Delegates and guests from different economies sent their congratulatory greetings and
showed their appreciation to the Philippine organizers for the successful conduct of the
PPDWE. Positive feedback centered on the following:
Filipino hospitality
Great line-up of speakers
Content / program / sessions
Dedication of the team behind the event
Participants shared how they were inspired by the discussions in the forum. Marita, one of
the young entrepreneur speakers, felt privileged sharing the stage with other inspiring
women. A guest from De La Salle College of Saint Benilde commented that she hopes to see
more young people in forums such as the PPDWE. Many are looking forward to attending /
being part of succeeding APEC Women and Economy Fora.
Below are the feedback / messages sent by the delegates and guests. Australia, Ms. Carol Hanlon
“Congratulations to all on ICONOGRAPH, it was a very impressive exhibition. Thanks also for the
wonderful hospitality during my time at APEC WEF. All the best.”
Australia,Ms. Caroline Martell-Hill
“I wanted to extend a big thank you and also congratulations on such a fantastic and successful event
Page 47 of 108
yesterday! Thank you for looking after Marita so well. She was truly grateful and felt so privileged to
share the stage with so many inspiring women.
I really enjoyed the opportunity so thank you very much. I thought the event was so well organized
and the variety of speakers amazing. All the best!”
Chile,Mrs. Alicia Frohmann
“I want to thank you for the excellent APEC WE 2015 meeting. You set a high standard, regarding
both substantive content and organization.
Thank you also for assigning me excellent escorts, who took good care of me and taught me a bit
about the Philippines: Ana Buenafe (escort), Aldrin Labis (driver), Joylene Bulan and Vangie
Escultura (security officers). I felt very much at home. The Philippines clearly shares an important
cultural heritage with Latin America. I hope to see you soon on either side of the Pacific.”
Japan,Mr. Yazawa Toshikazu
“...Congratulations on great success of the WE fora! You have done great job.
I would also like to express my sincere appreciations on all of your supports for Japan and
Yokohama... Again thank you very much and congratulations!”
Japan,Mr. Tamai Takeshi
“I also express my great thanks to your arrangement and hospitality. It was truly helpful for us and we
had fruitful time in Manila.”
Japan,Ms. Aya Tamura
“...We would like to thank for all of your great arrangement for APEC WE last week!! We all truly
had a great week in Manila.”
Papua New Guinea, Mr. Aro Davis “Thank you for looking after our women in Manila...”
Papua New Guinea, Ms. Julie Wapo “...The meetings were a great success and I congratulate Philippines for all your efforts and wonderful
experience that our delegation experienced the hospitality of Philippines. I would also like to express
our sincere appreciation for allowing PNG to host the PPWE 1 in Port Moresby.
It certainly gave us experience in preparation for 2018. Our appreciation is also extended for the
support of the Concept Note on Financial Access-Data in APEC Region. We will continue to work
together to embrace and promote Women’s Economic Empowerment in APEC.”
Papua New Guinea, Ms. Mataria Rupa-Tau “...I look forward to work in close partnership with APEC organized events to empower women
towards financial prosperity through entrepreneurship and trade within APEC economies.”
People’s Republic of China, Mme. Meng Xiaosi “I have come back to Beijing safe and sound after the APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora,
and I wish you can have some rest after the Fora.
Here, on behalf of the Chinese Delegation and the All-China Women’s Federation, and in my own
name, I’d like to congratulate you on the successful completion of the Fora and thank you for your
strong leadership and the hard efforts of the APEC WE Secretariat as well as all the staff. Finally,
thank you again for your hospitality and the thoughtful arrangement of our Philippine sisters!”
People’s Republic of China,Mr. Paul Lee and Ms. Kathy Gong
“Thanks for the awesome assistance, much appreciated!”
Peru,Ms. Ana Maria Choquehuanca
“Muchas gracias a ustedes por la cordial invitacion, espero haber cubierto sus expectativas.”
(Thank you very much for your cordial invitation. I hope I have met all your expectations.)
Philippines,Ms. Irene de Padua Bencito
“...I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation for inviting me and very honored for being part of
very successful [APEC PPDWE]. The forum was indeed a great help for my advocacy for women
Page 48 of 108
empowerment and helping women sector for business and economic development. Rest assured for
my support and cooperation for your future endeavors for women advancement. Thank you and more
power.”
Philippines,Ms. Linda O. Boniao
“In fairness, that was the best APEC meeting I have attended! Everything from the small tokens to the
seminar kit to the Great Speakers, they were well thought of and planned. Thank you for that
Excellent and Fantastic Hosting, great women leaders!”
Philippines,Ms. Susan Z. Prado
“It was my pleasure and honor to participate in the forum. I hope I can still participate in other
forums and activities to continue to work. Thanks and regards.”
Philippines,Ms. Lorelei Astrera
“...I thought the program was thoughtfully developed and the speakers and moderators excellently
selected. I did take away a lot of learning and a big measure of inspiration which I believe will have
lasting impact on my personal as well as professional life as an academic, a women empowerment /
gender equality advocate and development practitioner. If there is anything I could ask for, in general,
I wish there were more people in the audience, the youths in particular.
It is my hope that more women can partake of the good that a highly integrated world economy
brings. I hope that the academe can better prepare them for what is ahead, and that together with the
civil society and public and private sectors, we can all contribute to that collective goal of moving
everyone forward and building this nation.
I do look forward to more fora and conferences of the same caliber in the future. Congratulations to
everyone – the women and men – behind this successful event.”
Philippines,Ms. Myrna Pablo
“Thanks for the opportunity of having been a part of the APEC WE 2015. CONGRATULATIONS
for the excellent forum/fora. Indeed it was world-class event. We are proud to have been part of it.”
Philippines, Ms. Cherise Nicole Rosales “...We owe the greatest thanks to the minds behind the APEC fora and for the warm welcome you’ve
given to us.”
Philippines,Ms. Cheche Lazaro
“It was a pleasure to have been a part of the APEC Forum. With all good wishes!”
Philippines,Ms. Mitzi Borromeo
“…It was a pleasure and honor to have been part of the APEC PPDWE. Wonderful to hear that the
recommendations from that will be considered in the APEC economic leaders’ meeting next month.
Congratulations on putting an amazing and very important initiative together, and all the best for more
success in all your endeavors. Cheers.”
Russia,Mrs. Eugenia Babakhina
“Thank you for such warm assistance for Mrs. Nesterova! She was very glad to be at the WE fora.”
Chinese Taipei,Ms. Francesca I-Ku Chen
“It is really my pleasure to attend WEF and all activities that you all made every arrangement with
great efficiency and profession. I look forward to meeting you in near future.”
US-APEC Technical Assistance to Advance Regional Trade and Integration (ATAARI),
Ms. Victoria Waite “Congratulations on the successes of the PPWE, WEF and associated meetings. I’ve been following
the news releases, reports from delegates, and the media attention garnered from the suite of meetings
and outcomes. It’s been so inspirational and proof positive of what APEC can achieve, particularly on
these important issues...”
United States of America, Ms. Margareta Schettler “...We would like to commend you and the whole Philippines APEC Women and the Economy team
for absolutely wonderful meetings. The dedication and enthusiasm that the whole team showed
throughout the whole process was amazing and it has been an absolute pleasure to work with the
Page 49 of 108
team. We look forward to collaborating with you to continue the momentum throughout the rest of the
year and into 2016.”
APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC), Ms. Roxanne Lu “...Congratulations to the success of the Women and the Economy meetings and events!!!”
APEC Secretariat, Mr. Carlos Kuriyama “It was a pleasure for me and my unit to contribute to the Women and the Economy and related
meetings this year.”
Page 50 of 108
Annex C.1: APEC WE 2015 Fora – Public Private Dialogue on
Women and the Economy Program of Activities
APEC WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY 2015 OPENING CEREMONY
08:30H – 08:35H Preliminaries / Short Safety Briefing (5 min.)
08:35H – 09:05H Welcome Remarks and APEC Overview Video Presentation (20 min.)
Ms. Nora K. TERRADO CHAIR, APEC WE 2015 Fora
Undersecretary, Department of Trade and Industry
Opening Speech (10 min.)
Ms. Doris Magsaysay-Ho
Chair, APEC Business Advisory Council
President and CEO, Magsaysay Maritime Corporation
09:05H – 09:15H Harnessing the Power of the Crowd (10 min.)
Ms. Maria Ressa
Chief Executive Officer
Rappler
09:15H – 09:30H Facilitated Audience Participation (with Q&A and Polling) (15min.)
Ms. Maria Ressa Chief Executive Officer
Rappler
09:30H – 09:45H World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report (15 min.)
Ms. Saadia Zahidi Senior Director
Gender Parity, Human Capital and Constituents
World Economic Forum
09:45H – 10:00H Break to prepare for the President’s arrival
PUBLIC PRIVATE DIALOGUE ON WOMEN AND THE ECONOMY
(PPDWE)
10:00H – 10:15H Protocols, Preliminaries and Introduction of VIP Keynote Speaker (10-15
min.)
Hon. Gregory L. Domingo
Chair, Ministers Responsible for Trade
Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry
10:15H – 10:30H Keynote Speaker (15 min.)
H.E. Benigno Simeon Aquino III President of the Republic of the Philippines
10:30H – 10:45H Photo Opportunity with the President
10:45H – 11:00H Coffee / Tea break
11:00H – 12:00H Panel Session on the 5 Pillars of Women’s Economic Empowerment
On access to capital and assets
Ms. Heather Carroll Cox
Chief Client Experience
Digital and Marketing Head, Citi
On access to markets
Ms. Hafimi bte Abdul Haadii
Director/Shareholder
LVK Group of Companies
Page 51 of 108
On skills, capacity building, and health
Dr. Belén Garijo
CEO and President
Merck Healthcare
On leadership, voice, and agency
Ms. Irene Natividad President, Global Summit of Women
Chair, Corporate Women Directors International
On innovation and technology
Mr. Chao-Chia Huang
Managing Director
LoFTechnology, Inc.
Facilitated Audience Participation (with Q&A and Polling)
Moderator:
Ms. Maria Ressa Chief Executive Officer
Rappler
12:00H – 12:50H Lunch break
12:50H – 13:50H PPDWE Session on Young Women Leaders as Powerful Drivers of Change
Moderator:
Mr. Boy Abunda
TV Host, Celebrity Management and Marketing Consultant
Speakers:
Ms. Kathy Xiaosi Gong Founder & CEO, PinPoint
Founder & Chairwoman, KG Inc. & Seeway Group
Ms. Anna Nesterova
Chief Executive Officer
Investment Company Center Capital
Ms. Marita Cheng
Founder and CEO
2Mar Robotics
Ms. Victoria Lennox
Co-Founder and CEO
Start Up Canada
Ms. Maria May-I Fabros
Board Member for the Youth
Philippine Commission on Women
14:00H – 15:00H WOMEN IN THE INTERNATIONAL MARKETS AND GLOBAL VALUE
CHAINS
Innovation Women in the
International
Markets and
Global Value
Chains
Ms. Adaire Fox-Martin President
SAP Asia Pacific Japan
Ms. Ümran Beba Senior Vice President and Chief HR Officer
PepsiCo Asia/Middle East /Africa
Ms. Janette Toral
Site Owner, DigitalFilipino.com
Moderator:
Ms. Mitzi
Borromeo
News
Correspondent
CNN Philippines
Page 52 of 108
15:10H – 16:10H WOMEN AND INCLUSIVE BUSINESS
Empowerment Women and
Inclusive
Business
Ms. Sonomi Tanaka Technical Advisor (Gender Equity)
Social Development, Governance, and Gender
Division
Asian Development Bank
Mr. Nilesh Patel Senior Vice President & President, Asia Pacific
Avon Products Inc.
Atty. Adel Tamano
Vice President for Public Affairs and
Communications
Coca-Cola Philippines
Ms. Malathi Das President
Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations
Moderator:
Ms. Karen Davila
Broadcast
Journalist,
ABS-CBN
Young Global
Leader, World
Economic Forum
16:10H – 16:20H Coffee / Tea break
16:20H – 17:20H WOMEN AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
Resiliency Women and
Sustainable
Development
Ms. Maria Leonor “Leni” Robredo
3rd
District Representative,
Camarines Sur, Philippines
Mr. Jeremy Prepscius Vice President, Asia Pacific
Business for Social Responsibility (BSR)
Ms. Andrea Irarrázaval Olavarría
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Clean Energy
Ms. Lesieli Taviri
General Manager
Origin Energy
Moderator:
Ms. Cheche
Lazaro President, Probe
Productions Inc.
Editor-at-Large,
Rappler
17:20H – 17:45H Integration and Synthesis (10 min.)
Ms. Cheche Lazaro
President, Probe Productions Inc.
Editor-at-Large, Rappler
17:45H – 18:00H Closing Remarks (5 min. each)
Past, Future, and Present Host Economy Private sector Lead representative
CHINA
Ms. Kathy Xiaosi Gong Founder & CEO, PinPoint
Founder & Chairwoman, KG Inc & Seeway Group
PERU
Ms. Ana María Choquehuanca President
Peruvian Association Industrial Women – PERU MISUR
PHILIPPINES
Ms. Ma. Aurora “Boots” Geotina-Garcia Chair, Women’s Business Council Philippines
19:00H – 21:00H Welcome dinner with cultural show
Page 53 of 108
Annex C.2: Profiles of Speakers and Moderators Arranged by Order of Speaking Appearance
Nora K. Terrado is the Undersecretary for Management Services and Chief
of Staff of the Department of Trade and Industry. Before entering the civil
service, Usec. Terrado was the Country Manager of Headstrong Philippines
and Vice President for IT Services and Capital Markets of Genpact
Philippines. She is this year’s Chair for the APEC Women and the Economy
2015 Fora. The Undersecretary is an alumnus of the University of Asia and the
Pacific for her graduate studies in business economics and the University of
Saint La Salle for her degree in Commerce. She is a Certified Public
Accountant.
Doris Magsaysay-Ho is the Chief Executive Officer of the Magsaysay
Group of Companies which is involved in shipping, logistics, human resources,
marine travel and tourism. She is also the President and CEO of Magsaysay
Transport & Logistics Group. Ms. Ho was recognized as the Global Filipino
Executive of the Year at the Asia CEO Awards in 2012. In 2011, she received
the Lloyd’s List Asia 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for her outstanding
contribution in the shipping industry. In 2010, she ranked 94th in the Lloyd’s
List of 100 Most Influential People in the Shipping Industry. Ms. Ho is the
Chair of the APEC Business Advisory Council.
Maria Ressa is the CEO and Executive Editor of Rappler, a social news
network which uses a hearts and minds approach to news through a unique
mood navigator. Prior to establishing Rappler, she headed ABS-CBN News
and Current affairs, for six years, since 2005, determining strategic direction
and managing more than 1,000 journalists for the largest multi-platform news
operation in the Philippines. She has been a journalist in Asia for more than
25 years, most of them as CNN’s bureau chief in Manila (1987-1995) then
Jakarta (1995-2005).
Saadia Zahidi is the Senior Director for Gender Parity, Human Capital and
Constituents at the World Economic Forum. Her former post at WEF is as
Economist, Global Competitiveness Programme. Ms. Zahidi finished
International Economics at the Graduate Institute of International Studies and
her Master's in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Page 54 of 108
Heather Carroll Cox has been the Chief Client Experience, Digital and
Marketing Officer for Global Consumer Banking at Citigroup since April
2014, She is responsible for developing and implementing the vision, strategy
and execution of common client experience, driving global customer
satisfaction efforts and leading Digital, Marketing and Decision Management
across Global Consumer Banking. Prior to joining Citi, Ms. Cox served as the
Head of Card Operation at Capital One Financial Corporation. She also served
as the Head of North America Operations at E*TRADE.
Hafimi bte Abdul Haadii is the Director/ Shareholder of LVK Group of
Companies. She is a third generation entrepreneur who took over the company
started by her paternal grandfather over 30 years ago. She sits as a
director/shareholder on the boards of the following companies: LO
International Sdn Bhd, Syarikat Perusahaan Gunong Intan Sdn Bhd, Mas
Sugara Travel Services Sdn Bhd, The Jag Shop and Syarikat Bintang Berjaya.
Ms. Hafimi finished her tertiary education at Deakin University where she
attained a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture and a Bachelor of Architecture with
First Class Honours.
Belén Garijo is a Member of the Executive Board of Merck since January
2015. She is responsible for the Healthcare segment, comprising the businesses
of Merck Serono, Consumer Health, Allergopharma and Biosimilars. Before
joining Merck, Dr. Garijo was employed by Sanofi-Aventis as Senior Vice
President Global Operations Europe. Pre-2006, Dr. Garijo worked for Aventis
Spain, Rhône-Poulenc Rorer, and in Abott Laboratories / R&D. Dr. Garijo is a
medical doctor. She worked as a practicing physician for six years, before
moving to the pharmaceutical industry.
Irene Natividad is President of the Global Summit of Women, a 25-year old
annual gathering of women leaders who aim to accelerate women’s economic
progress globally. She also serves as Chair of Corporate Women Directors
International (CWDI) which conducts research on women on boards globally
and brings together women corporate directors from around the world on
issues of corporate governance. Her commitment to promoting women,
nationally and internationally, stems from her decade-long involvement with
the National Women's Political Caucus, a bipartisan organization dedicated to
electing and appointing women to public office.
Page 55 of 108
Paul Chao Chia Huang is the Managing Director of LoFTechnology, Inc.
He holds a PHD degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Tokyo
while he obtained his MS and BS degrees in Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science both from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Boy Abunda is a TV host and a celebrity management and marketing
consultant at ABS-CBN. While he has often been called the Philippines's King
of Talk, Boy credits his mastery of the Art of Listening as one of the key
attributes that has allowed him to become one of Asia's best hosts and
interviewers. Outside of his work in television, Boy dreams of writing his first
book, “13 Things I Know That You May Want To Know About Public
Figures/Celebrities In The Philippines." Mr. Abunda has a Master’s Degree in
Communication Arts from the Philippine Women's University, and is currently
in the process of completing his final dissertation for his PHD in Social
Development also at the PWU. He studied Business Management at the
Ateneo de Manila University.
Kathy Xiaosi Gong is the Founder & CEO of PinPoint and Founder &
Chairwoman, KG Inc & Seeway Group. As a serial entrepreneur, in 2015, she
decided to develop PinPoint, an internet company allowing users to conduct
smart business negotiation (B2B2C). In 2012, she founded KG a business
event management company. The year before that, she founded Seeway Group
which offers innovative portfolios to both investors and partners worldwide.
She was awarded as one of the Top Ten Entrepreneur Representatives of
China’s Economic Innovation in 2011 and 2013. Ms. Xiaosi Gong was the
youngest national chess champion at the age of 10 in 1996 and again at 12 in
1998. She holds a B.A. Degrees in Economics and in East Asian Languages
and Cultures from Columbia University.
Anna Nesterova is the Chief Executive Officer of Investment Company
Center Capital. She is finance and banking professional, with over 15 years of
experience, specializing in financial markets, macroeconomics, and
investments. Ms. Nesterova is a recognized participant of the financial market.
She is also active in public activities. She regularly publishes articles on
professional issues in the media.
Page 56 of 108
Marita Cheng is the Founder and CEO of 2Mar Robotics. In 2012, she was
names as the Young Australian of the Year and was included in the 100
Women of Influence List by the Australian Financial Review and Westpac.
Ms. Cheng has demonstrated vision and leadership well beyond her years and
is dedicated to encouraging young women to pursue careers in engineering. A
former panelist on ABC TV's New Inventors, Marita serves as a Board
Member for the Foundation for Young Australians.
Victoria Lennox is a 30-year-old Canadian social entrepreneur,
commentator, program architect and policy advisor who has a track record of
creating meaningful political and policy inroads to advance entrepreneurship.
She is the Co-Founder and CEO of grassroots non-profit organization, Start-Up
Canada, and the founder and President Emeritus of UK-based Charity
NACUE. Ms. Lennox is the first Canadian and one of the youngest recipients
of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion on the recommendation of the
British Prime Minister. She completed her MSc. Global Governance &
Diplomacy at Oxford University in 2008 and completed her undergraduate
degree in Political Science and Governance & Public Policy at the University
of Ottawa in 2006.
Maria May-I Fabros is a Board Member for the Youth Philippine
Commission on Women. Ms. May-I Fabros likes to take risks, build and break
things. She has embarked on multiple business ventures, beginning at the age
of eight (8) when she made stationaries to sell to her classmates and family.
Currently, May-i is in the service industry – capacitating and empowering
people, particularly young women, to actively participate in ensuring
accountable and transparent governance.
Mitzi Borromeo is a News Anchor and Correspondent at CNN Philippines.
She anchors the daily week night news program "Nightly News" broadcast
and is host, writer and co-producer of the weekly current affairs program
"Profiles." She cut her teeth in Philippine broadcast media as a news anchor
on the Sarimanok News Network (SNN) which eventually became the
ABS-CBN News Channel. She went on to become segment producer and
presenter for the daily morning show "Breakfast."
Mitzi went on to work as Communications Officer at WWF-Philippines,
then as Press Officer at WWF International in Switzerland, and later as
Communications Associate at the United Nations University Institute of
Advanced Studies in Japan. She has worked extensively on environment,
conservation, and sustainability issues, including gender equality. Mitzi
earned a BA Political Science degree from Ateneo de Manila University.
Page 57 of 108
Adaire Fox-Martin is the President of the SAP Asia Pacific Japan (APJ).
She is responsible for all activities spanning APJ sales and operations, as well
as SAP's expansion and growth in APJ. Ms. Fox Martin’s career spans over 23
years’ experience in the IT sector, including leadership positions in sales,
business development, consulting and education, across APJ and Europe. She
is a respected thought leader and a frequent speaker at seminars and
conferences including the World Economic Forum. She is regularly featured
and quoted in numerous publications throughout the region. Fox-Martin’s
media appearances include CNBC, BBC, Bloomberg TV, Channel NewsAsia,
Nikkei Asian Review, and many others.
Janette Toral is the site owner of DigitalFilipino.com and a staunch advocate
of e-commerce in the Philippines since 1997. She serves her community in the
DigitalFilipino Club and the public at large through training and consulting in
the area of e-commerce, digital marketing, blog campaign, and the likes. She
is a Certified Scrum Master and Certified Scrum Product Owner. Ms. Toral, as
technical consultant / executive director of the Congressional Oversight
Committee for the E-Commerce Law, was instrumental in the creation of
policies in the area of consumer protection, data privacy for the private sector,
and acceptance of electronic payment in government. As founding president
of the Philippine Internet Commerce Society, she was instrumental in the
passage of the Y2K Law and E-Commerce Law.
Ümran Beba is the Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources
Officer of PepsiCo AMEA (Asia, Middle East and Africa) which covers 90
markets and 30,000 direct employees. Ms. Beba has held a wide range of roles
since joining the company in 1994. She served as President of PepsiCo’s Asia-
Pacific region, President of PepsiCo's South East Europe Region, Business
Unit General Manager for East Mediterranean. She started her PepsiCo career
at Frito-Lay in Turkey, where she held positions including Marketing Director,
HR Director and ultimately General Manager. Ms. Beba finished her MBA
and BSc in Industrial Engineering from Bogaziçi University in Turkey.
Karen Davila is a multi-awarded broadcast journalist in ABSCBN having
won the much coveted The Outstanding Young Men or TOYM Award for
Broadcast in 2008 and The Outstanding Women in the Nation's Service of
TOWNS Award in 2014. She is a Young Global Leader of the World
Economic Forum, having moderated international televised sessions on
ASEAN for the East Asia Summit in Manila and Jakarta. She anchors three
live daily programs - a daily talk show, Headstart shown on ANC or the
ABSCBN News Channel, a daily political commentary radio program on
DZMM 630 and Bandila, ABSCBN's late night newscast.
Page 58 of 108
Sonomi Tanaka is the Technical Advisor (Gender Equity) for Social
Development, Governance, and Gender Division at the Asian Development
Bank. She is responsible for overseeing and providing advice on ADB-wide
operations in support of gender equality and women’s empowerment. Ms.
Sonomi has worked on gender and development, poverty reduction, social
analysis, social protection, and community participation issues in Asia and the
Pacific for nearly 20 years. Prior to working with ADB, she worked in World
Bank’s South Asia Department and in development institutions in Japan. She
holds a Master of Arts on Gender and Development from Sussex University.
She has a bachelor’s degree on International Relations from the University of
Tokyo.
Nilesh Patel is the Senior Vice President & President, Asia Pacific at Avon
Products, Inc. Mr. Patel joined Avon following a 26-year career with the Heinz
Company, where he acquired deep experience across multiple functions and
built a solid record of success in emerging Asian markets. Prior to joining
Heinz, Mr. Patel was a Process Development Engineer for Grand Metropolitan
in the food retailer's Research and Development department. He spent his early
professional career at a pharmaceutical company. Mr. Patel holds a Bachelor's
degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Glamorgan in South
Wales (now the University of South Wales).
Adel Tamano is the Vice President for Public Affairs and Communications
of Coca-Cola Philippines. He was previously University President of the
Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila and the Association of Local Colleges and
Universities. He was a Trustee of the Harvard Law Alumni Association and
served as Dean of the College of Law of Liceo de Cagayan University in
Cagayan de Oro. Atty. Tamano is a known media practitioner, a columnist,
legal analyst, and TV personality in Philippine media. He obtained his Master
of Laws, with Honors, from the Harvard Law School. He obtained his Master
of Public Administration from the University of the Philippines.
Malathi Das is the President of the Singapore Council of Women’s
Organisations. She is a commercial litigation lawyer, who has a special
interest in family, gender and child issues. She graduated with LLB Honours
from the National University of Singapore and currently heads the litigation
and dispute resolution department of Messrs Joyce A Tan & Partners. From
2011 to 2013, Malathi served as President of regional law organisation,
LAWASIA. At present, she is a Board Member on the Law Society’s Pro
Bono and Access to Justice Committee and serves on the Board of Governors
of the Institute of Technical Education (ITE). She is a Teaching Fellow for the
postgraduate Family Practice course at the Singapore Institute of Legal
Education (SILE).
Page 59 of 108
Cheche Lazaro is the President of Probe Productions, Inc. and the Editor-at-
Large of Rappler. She graduated from the University of the Philippines with a
Bachelor of Arts degree in Speech and Drama. Ms. Lazaro obtained here MA
in Radio-Television from the University of Michigan.
Maria Leonor Gerona-Robredo is the Representative of the Third District
of Camarines Sur, Philippines. Prior to being elected in the Congress, she was
a public attorney and lawyer committed to non-governmental organization
(NGO) work where her legal services to the poor were pro bono. At present,
part of her responsibilities as Congresswomen is serving as Senior Vice Chair
of the Committee on Revision of Laws and Vice Chair of the Committee on
Good Government and Public Accountability. Congresswoman Robredo
graduated from the University of the Philippines School of Economics.
Jeremy Prepscius is the Vice President for Asia Pacific Business for Social
Responsibility (BSR). Mr. Prepscius has extensive experience in supply chain
management, business integration, external communications, government
relations, and compliance operations. Prior to joining BSR in 2006, he spent
more than 10 years on equipment sourcing, footwear production and corporate
responsibility for Nike, Inc. He also worked in China for five years as the
North Asia Regional Compliance Director. He holds an M.S. in Economic
Development from the Patterson School of Diplomacy, and an M.S. in
International Commerce from the University of Kentucky.
Andrea Irarrázaval Olavarría is a social entrepreneur and the Founder &
Chief Executive Officer of Clean Energy in Chile. Clean Energy is a project-
based company dedicated to reduction of CO2 and greenhouse emissions.
Prior to founding Clean Energy, Ms. Irarrázaval served as advisor to several
banking institutions such as Banco Santander and Banco de Chile. She has
over 20 years of experienced in advocating and promoting women
entrepreneurship in Chile. She has a Bachelor Degree in Social Sciences from
the Santo Tomas University in Chile, a graduate degree in Social Work also
from the Santo Tomas University, and a Master Degree in Human Resources
from the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Page 60 of 108
Lesieli Taviri is the General Manager of Origin LPG in Papua New Guinea,
one of the largest providers of LPG in the Pacific Region. Ms. Taviri is one of
the most prominent business leaders in PNG. She has recently won the 2014
Outstanding Woman of the Year Award. As chairman for the PNG Business
Coalition for Women, she is committed to removing the barriers that have
prevented women advancing their careers in the region. Ms. Taviri completed
her Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science at the PNG University of
Technology and worked in IT for 8 years before moving in to the energy
sector.
Ana María Choquehuanca is the President of the Peruvian Association
Industrial Women - PERU MISUR. She represents the incoming Host
Economy Private Sector Delegation.
Ma. Aurora "Boots" Geotina-Garcia is Chair of the Women's Business
Council of the Philippines. She represents the 2015 Host Economy Private
Sector Delegation. As President of Mageo Consulting, Ms. Geotina-Garcia has
mentored businesses on corporate finance, sharing advice and philosophies she
learned as Global Corporate Finance Division head of SyCip, Gorres, Velayo
& Co. / Ernst & Young’s. She expands her advocacy as a Member of the
Board of Directors for various corporations in real estate, banking, and retail.
She is a Board member of Business & Professional Women - Makati, Phil.
Women Corporate Directors, and Samahan ng Pilipina para sa Reporma at
Kaunlaran (Spark).
Page 61 of 108
Annex D: High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy
Summary Report
High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy (HLPD on WE) 18 September 2015 | 09:00 AM – 01:00 PM
Summit Halls C and D, Philippine International Convention Center
Metro Manila, Philippines
The High Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy (HLPD on WE) was chaired
by the Philippine Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Undersecretary Nora K. Terrado.
Eighteen economies participated led by Ministers and Deputy Ministers as Heads of
Delegations, and delegates from Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s
Republic of China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines,
Republic of Korea, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, United States, and Viet
Nam.
Prior the commencement of the meeting, the Chair invited the Ministers and Heads of
Delegations for a Family Photo session at the lobby of the Philippine International
Convention Center.
The Chair expressed her appreciation to everyone for attending the meeting. She
congratulated the participants for their active participation and contribution to the success of
the Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE) 2 Meeting and the Public
Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy (PPDWE) which took place on the 16th
and
17th
of September, respectively. She also recognized the presence of the distinguished guest
speakers from the APEC Secretariat, Philippine Department of Trade and Industry, and
Yokohama City, Japan.
The meeting was declared open followed by the adoption of the agenda.
To turn over the floor to the next speaker, the Chair invited Ms. Irene Sim, Chief of Staff of
the APEC Secretariat to give the introductory remarks and provide an overview of the APEC
agenda.
Introductory Remarks
Ms. Sim congratulated and thanked the Philippines for hosting magnificently and warmly the
APEC WE. She added that “one cannot help but be rejuvenated and inspired by the energy,
optimism, spunk, leadership, and enthusiasm of the participants reverberating through the
various meetings, workshops, and seminars in the past days.” In particular, she recalled the
stories of young women leaders – the millennials – during the APEC PPDWE. Ms. Sim
remarked “Well done, Philippines.”
Ms. Sim noted that the women’s economic empowerment agenda in APEC has been
sustained and steadfast. She recalled how it began in 1998 when the first Ministerial Meeting
on Women was held in the Philippines that resulted in the adoption of the Framework for the
Integration of Women in APEC.
Ms. Sim narrated that the PPWE was then established in 2011 at the second Senior Officials’
Meeting held in Montana, the United States. PPWE’s aim was to generate stronger
Page 62 of 108
collaboration between public and private sectors and to do better to mainstream and to
integrate gender responsive policies and programs focused on women’s economic
empowerment to APEC activities.
Since 2011, Ms. Sim recounted that APEC Leaders recognized the crucial role of women in
the development and prosperity of the Asia Pacific and have emphasized the importance of
women’s economic empowerment in the annual APEC Leaders Declaration. For this year,
the Philippines adopted for APEC the theme of “Building Inclusive Economies, Building a
Better World” with a goal of attaining sustainable and inclusive growth in the Asia Pacific
region.
Ms. Sim recognized that women play a critical role in achieving economic prosperity. For
that reason, the APEC WE 2015 is focused on the significance of women as Prime Movers of
Inclusive Growth.
Ms. Sim congratulated the PPWE and the PPWE Chair for finally coming up with the
Strategic Plan 2015-2018 which reflects the efforts of all 21 APEC Member Economies to
promote women’s economic empowerment. She shared that the main key in this plan is
mainstreaming the women’s agenda including by working in collaboration with other APEC
fora. She explained that this is where the APEC Secretariat comes in, as it recognizes that
gender is a cross cutting issue and will continue to promote cross fora collaboration to
advance gender integration and gender equality agenda. For that reason, Ms. Sim stated that
the Secretariat have ensured, and will continue to ensure, that the Program Director
supporting the other APEC fora, are regularly brief on the PPWE initiatives and recent
developments so they could in turn, integrate gender issues into their presentations to the
various APEC fora that they are supporting.
Ms. Sim reported that recently, APEC Secretariat Program Directors have delivered
presentations to mainstream gender in the Policy Partnership on Science, Technology, and
Innovation (PPSTI), Committee on Trade and Investment (CTI), Group of Services, the Sub-
Committee on Standards and Conformance, the Energy Working Group (EWG), the Mining
Task Force (MTF), and the Investments Experts Group (IEG). She explained that these
activities are intended to support PPWE’s own outreach into other APEC fora.
In conclusion, Ms. Sim stated that advancing gender equality and women’s economic agenda
is a challenge that belongs not only to women, but also to men.
After the speech of Ms. Sim, the Chair introduced DTI Secretary Hon. Gregory L. Domingo,
who recently chaired the Ministers Responsible for Trade, who will expound how the
economic empowerment of women is vital in achieving inclusive growth.
Economic Empowerment of Women for Inclusive Growth
In return, Secretary Domingo congratulated Undersecretary Terrado for a job well done and
all the efforts in the past months have been well worth it. He thanked everyone for their
participation as it bolsters gender integration, gender equality, and women’s economic
empowerment towards fostering sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia
Pacific region. He took note that the major agenda of the fora is the ensure women’s greater
access to capital, markets, capacity and skills building, and to promote women’s leadership
and competitiveness through technology and innovation. In particular, the Philippines has a
Page 63 of 108
greater focus on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) taking into account
thatmajority of enterprise owners, managers and workers in micro enterprises are women.
In setting the background on the current contribution and potential inputs of women to
economic productivity, Secretary Domingo mentioned the market share of small and medium
enterprises as over 97 per cent and account for 50 to 80 per cent of jobs generated in APEC
countries. SMEs contribute 13 to 60 per cent to the gross domestic product (GDP) across
APEC countries. They also make up 35 per cent of a country’s exports wherein between 20
per cent and 80 per cent are active importers. SMEs collaborating with larger firms are seen
as major contributors in the innovation of an economy.
The SMEs integrated in the supply chains of global firms showed improvement in human and
technology capital which enhanced their productivities. Secretary Domingo explained that to
promote inclusive and equitable growth, APEC focused on developing the region’s SMEs in
order to bolster their ability to take advantage of cross border business.
The rise of Global Value Chains (GVCs) and forging of free trade agreements opened doors
for SMEs to participate in trade. In connection with this, Secretary Domingo shared that in
the recent meeting of the APEC Ministers for Trade (MRT), adopted the Boracay Action
Agenda to Globalize Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) which promotes
the direct participation of MSMEs in regional and global trade.
However, Secretary Domingo expounded that global value chains generally engage medium
enterprises and; only a small minority of MSMEs are able to participate because of lack of
required sophistication and are unable to participate in direct exports due to cumbersome
rules and procedures. With the promotion of MSMEs in the APEC region, women enterprises
will benefit as APEC is giving special focus in bringing MSMEs front and center in the
decision making of the global trade fora.
According to the 2010 United Nations estimate, the APEC region loses up to US$ 47 billion
in output each year due to lack of women’s participation in the labor markets. Additionally
in 2012, they estimated that up to US$ 89 billion a year could be added to the regional
economy when barriers to women’s economic participation are eliminated.
In addition, Secretary Domingo mentioned that there is a need to mainstream women’s
participation in the various APEC Fora in order to address their capacity building needs.
He also stated that the Strategic Blueprint for promoting global value chains development and
cooperation and capacity building for SMEs’ integration into the global value chains in major
industries would be relevant in promoting greater participation of women in trade.
Furthermore, he said that to “strengthen the focus on MSMEs led by women,” the Boracay
Action Agenda to Globalize MSMEs specifies the following major directions:
1) APEC will foster the use of gender-disaggregated data in measuring the economic and
social impacts of MSMEs. This is important in monitoring the progress of women’s
participation in the economy;
2) APEC will promote the understanding of the divergent constraints faced by male and
female-led MSMEs; and
3) APEC will encourage the exchange of best practices on women-friendly interfaces
with customs and other border authorities.
Page 64 of 108
APEC to achieve sustainable growth with equity, will enhance SMEs’ global competitiveness
through innovation and tapping women’s productivity, ensure financial inclusion, strengthen
food security and improve access to health services. Secretary Domingo explained that it is
for this reason that APEC Ministers and Leaders agreed to focus on eliminating the barriers
which curtail gender equality and women’s economic empowerment. He emphasized that
these will be worth the effort as US$ 89 billion per annum could be gained if women across
the region realize their full economic potential.
In connection with the above, Secretary Domingo announced that the Philippines will be
chairing the Committee on Trade and Industry next year for APEC and a woman from the
Trade and Industry will be heading this committee.
In concluding his Welcome Remarks, Secretary Domingo stated that with the high quality of
participation and energy of the participants in the workshops in the last few days, he had no
doubt that women economic empowerment is already at hand.
Following Secretary Domingo was Mayor Fumiko Hayashi of Yokohama City, Japan. The
Chair thanked Mayor Hayashi for gracing the event and also recognized the 50th
anniversary
of the sisterhood of the cities of Yokohama and Manila.
Opportunities and Challenges for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Japan
Mayor Hayashi stated that ever since Yokohama hosted the 2010 APEC Economic Leaders’
Meeting, she took part in APEC Women and the Economy discussions. Due to Prime
Minister Abe’s initiative in putting the promotion of women’s empowerment in Japan as a
major pillar of its growth strategy, movement on this has grown fast pace. Recently in
August, the World Assembly for Women in Tokyo 2015 was held where female leaders from
around the globe exchanged dynamic ideas; something that you could consider women’s
version of the Davos forum. Public efforts are accelerating on the bill to promote the
empowerment of women that is currently being debated upon.
Yokohama, being Japan’s most populous city with 3.7 million inhabitants, Mayor Hayashi
devoted herself to making it easier and more fulfilling for women to work specifically by
improving the availability of child care which is their primary barrier to female social
progression. She has managed to reduce the number of children on waiting lists to zero by
increasing the number of facilities while matching the needs of the residents. She also shared
that developments are being made through the various policies including support for female
entrepreneurs and networking among working women.
Mayor Hayashi heads the Mayor’s Association of Designated Cities, which is a male
dominated organization, composed of 20 Japanese cities. She articulated how she was able to
change relationships and foster constructive debate by seeing things from the viewpoints of
others.
Another big issue in Japan is the long working hours. She mentioned how the idea that
women are meant to do the housework, child-rearing and care, while men are meant to devote
long hours to a profession, has stood a long way in female progression. Hence, revisions to
tax and social security systems are now being considered to foster an equally empowered
society.
Page 65 of 108
Mayor Hayashi stated how she was motivated by the APEC discussions since 2010 until
2015, where the role of women promoting inclusive growth was discussed. She cited how
everyone, both locally and internationally, is now working to advance women’s economic
empowerment which she hoped will be transmitted around the world. She emphasized how
this dialogue and implementation is vital to set all this in motion. In closing, Mayor Hayashi
mentioned how she was determined to see APEC continue to grow and bring about a rich
future.
After the speech of Mayor Hayashi, the Chair called on the PPWE Chair Ms. Emmeline L.
Verzosa from the Philippine Commission on Women to report on the outcomes of the PPWE
2 Meeting held on 16 September 2015.
Report by the PPWE Chair
The PPWE Chair thanked Papua New Guinea for graciously hosting the first meeting of
PPWE in Port Moresby on May 3 to 5, 2015.
With a mission to mainstream, elevate, and integrate gender responsive policies and programs
focusing on women’s economic empowerment into APEC activities, the PPWE Chair gladly
announced that the three-year PPWE Strategic Plan 2015-2018 was officially adopted in
Manila. She said that the Strategic Plan envisions a “strong sustainable, balanced economic
growth in the APEC region that is more inclusive and enabling for women to succeed and
advance.” She mentioned how the Strategic Plan will advance women’s economic
participation through the five (5) priority pillars: 1) women’s access to capital and assets; 2)
access to markets; 3) capacity and skills building, and health; 4) leadership, voice, and
agency; and 5) innovation and technology. This also aims to strengthen the foundation and
operating structures of the PPWE and the Women and the Economy Fora.
To strengthen the integration of gender responsive policies and programs across APEC fora,
the Guide on Gender Criteria for APEC Project Proposals was updated to assess all
concept notes and projects submitted to the APEC Secretariat. The PPWE Chair mentioned
that this tool provides a range of approaches to address gender issues, from basic to more
complex, depending on the type of project. She thanked the APEC Secretariat by designating
a Gender Focal Point who facilitates the assessment of project proposals.
The PPWE Chair shared that based on the updates provided by the APEC Secretariat during
the meeting, twenty one (21) out of forty two (42) project proposals for 2015 Project Session
1 satisfactorily addressed the gender criteria in their first submission. Meanwhile, proposals
that did not satisfactorily address the gender criteria were returned with feedback and
constructive suggestions on how the project could be improved and become gender
responsive. She informed the body that a draft Cross-cutting Issues Map was prepared by the
APEC Secretariat which illustrates the various APEC fora and working groups that are
working on gender-related issues.
With the target of achieving at least ten (10) cross-fora collaboration by 2018, the PPWE
Chair reported that there are already nine (9) APEC cross-fora collaboration in varying
degrees have been made. These are the following:
1) Health Working Group
2) Human Resource Development Working Group
3) Small and Medium Enterprises Working Group
Page 66 of 108
4) Telecommunications Working Group
5) Transportation Working Group
6) Emergency Preparedness Working Group
7) Anti-Corruption Working Group
8) Economic Committee
9) Energy Working Group
The PPWE Chair noted the gender-responsive provisions of the Boracay Action Agenda to
Globalize MSMEs which advocates the strengthening of women-led MSMEs through the use
of sex-disaggregated data in measuring the economic and social impacts on MSMEs, and also
recognizes the divergent constraints faced by male and female-led MSMEs in doing their
business.
The PPWE Chair also mentioned that in the upcoming 22nd
APEC Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises Ministerial Meeting in September and the 12th
APEC Energy Ministers Meeting
in October, increase in women’s participation will be discussed.
On the PPWE projects and Individual Action Plans (IAPs), the PPWE Chair highlighted the
reports done by a number of economies such as:
1) Japan: fourteen (14) economies have submitted their IAPs to increase women’s
leadership in the public and private sectors which have been uploaded at the APEC
website. It also shared its compilation of best practices on Women’s
Entrepreneurship in Local Communities in the Process of Disaster Reconstruction.
2) United States: the online platform on Women’s Entrepreneurship in APEC (WE-
APEC) initiative has been launched on 17 September which identifies existing
networks of women-owned business in the APEC economies.
3) Chinese Taipei: conducted a Seminar on Empowering Women through ICT for
Inclusive Growth on 16 September which is part of the multi-year project “Innovation
for Women and Economic Development – Facilitating Women’s Livelihood
Development and Resilience with ICTs” that illustrates how women use ICT for
business in the digital arena.
4) Papua New Guinea: presented a project proposal entitled “Women’s Access to
Financial Services Data in the APEC region” which aims to collect data on women’s
access to financial services and identify barriers and recommendations. Co-sponsors
of this project are the Philippines, Peru, United States of America, and Indonesia.
5) Canada: presented an initiative on “Dedicated MSME Sub-fund and Policy Support
Facility” which aims to address the lack of a dedicated funding facility for MSME-
related projects within APEC.
6) Other delegations from Australia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Russia and
Singapore also reported on their initiatives to advance women’s economic
empowerment.
The PPWE Chair added that the APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard has been
finalized and will soon be available online. This initiative aims to provide a snapshot on the
status of women in APEC, by looking at a set of eighty (80) indicators to measure progress of
women’s participation in economic-related activities and women’s inclusion in several
aspects of life. She encouraged the economies to support the implementation of the
Dashboard to make it a robust tool for tracking, measuring, and communicating progress in
reducing barriers to women’s economic participation.
Page 67 of 108
The PPWE Chair endorsed the APEC Women and the Economy Fora 2015 Statement
which contains concrete and actionable recommendations categorized along the three sub-
themes: Women and Inclusive Business; Women in the International Markets and Global
Value Chains; and Women and Sustainable Development.
In her closing statement, the PPWE Chair thanked all economies, APEC Secretariat, and
private sector representatives for their hard work during the meeting and looked forward to
communicating inter-sessionally to continue the discussions in achieving gender equality,
women’s economic empowerment, and the realization of inclusive economies build a better
world for all.
Afterwards, the Chair called on Ms. Ma. Aurora “Boots” Geotina-Garcia representing the
Women’s Business Council Philippines which is the private sector partner and co-lead for the
hosting of the PPDWE on 17 September 2015.
Report by the PPDWE Lead
Delivering the outcomes of the PPDWE, Ms. Garcia cascaded the highlights of the
discussions wherein more than eight hundred (800) delegates and guests were present. She
narrated how the dialogue was filled with compelling stories of great women, men and their
organizations, and how it fostered rich exchange of insights and best practices on women
empowerment and integration. She affirmed how women possess the capability and right
attitude and character in driving inclusive growth in our respective economies and the APEC
region.
Ms. Garcia shared the following recommendations generated from the PPDWE on how
APEC WE can maximize and harness the strengths and potentials of women towards
achieving our goals:
1) PPDWE recommended investing on the youth, recognizing the rise of the women
millennials and their contributions to the society. To do this, they recommended
investing in education – especially in the areas of science, technology and
mathematics (STEM) – which allows us to take advantage of the rising need for
talents and people in the fields of information, technology, research and innovation.
Other suggestions include initiating mentoring programs for women, granting
scholarships, and retooling the education system to ensure that it addresses
tomorrow’s skills and knowledge requirements;
2) PPDWE recognized the value of technology which has created huge impact on the
way people do business, connect with others, build relations, and live their daily lives.
In this regard, PPDWE encouraged stakeholders to establish ICT infrastructure that
will connect women in businesses into customers and markets, value chain support,
mentoring and networking initiatives, as well as e-commerce programs. They also
recommended to support start-ups that create and harness today’s so called “creative
disruption” by encouraging them to pursue their dream of starting their own
enterprises with the use of technologies – allowing them to take the risks, go beyond
status quo, and create their rules and programs customized to their business models
and needs;
3) PPDWE recommended increasing gender diversity in boards starting with
government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), government financial
institutions, and publicly listed companies. To do this, they suggested these two
strategies to be taken into consideration: a) establishing a quota for women seats on
Page 68 of 108
Corporate Boards; and b) incorporating gender diversity language into corporate
governance codes of each country. To further increase opportunities to advance
women’s voice and leadership, they suggested the conduct of leadership training for
MSMEs and women-owned enterprises around APEC economies;
4) PPDWE recommended initiating programs for those who are at the bottom of the
pyramid (BoP) such as by means of consulting low-income women more to
understand the effective approaches in helping them. They suggested to create
carefully designed livelihood programs that will effectively empower women in
communities, particularly mothers;
5) PPDWE recommended supporting more inclusive businesses particularly those with
explicit women empowerment in their business strategy. As the Gender and Inclusive
Business Study of the Asian Development Bank shows, inclusive businesses have
great potential for BoP population and for women empowerment. These kinds of
businesses create jobs and income opportunities for the poor and help meet priority
service needs in education, water, and energy, among others. Inclusive business was
defined as commercially viable enterprises that market solutions to the BoP. To
clarify, this does not refer to social enterprises, CSRs, or micro-enterprises;
6) PPDWE recommended the use of gender lens in establishing financial support and
training for businesses. Additionally, they suggested to funnel investments on private
sector companies with innovative gender policies that extend across their supply
chains as well as provide direct capital to companies and social enterprises that offer
products and services benefiting women and girls;
7) PPDWE recommended starting gender equality advocacies right in our own homes by
increasing awareness and appreciation among our children, spouses, relatives, and
friends. These programs should help identify parents, especially in communities,
become better equipped to mentor and guide their family about issues surrounding
gender equality. These should allow more young girls (and even boys) to learn more
about technology so that they may harness it in future efforts for inclusive growth and
women empowerment; and
8) PPDWE recommended continuing the collaboration among the government, business
sector, and civil society in designing and implementing programs for women as this
results to significant and positive impacts where everyone converged. PPDWE
expressed its hope that the HLPD on WE will mark the start of our continuous
collaboration and convergence.
Finally, Ms. Garcia stressed that PPDWE offered challenges and opportunities on women
empowerment; yet she remained optimistic that the HLPD on WE will offer solutions to the
challenges identified.
Policy recommendations (from the Heads of Delegation and ABAC)
Australia
Australia, as represented by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Bill
Tweddell, stated that the theme “Women as Prime Movers of Inclusive Growth” highlights
the importance of women’s role in achieving regional growth as it aligns with other
international commitments, such as the G20 leaders’ commitment to reduce the gender
participation gap by 25 per cent by 2025. Ambassador Tweddell stated that this commitment
is a policy priority for Australia which they are working hard to achieve.
Page 69 of 108
Australia noted the progress that is being made, but challenges still remain to be addressed.
Nevertheless, Ambassador Tweddell remarked that the unique strength of the Fora is that it
maximizes international collaboration between the public and private sectors to increase
women’s participation, which is not only good for women, their families and communities,
but also vital to economic growth.
Ambassador Tweddell mentioned how APEC has consistently exhibited the vitality of
forging bilateral and regional partnerships and the importance this will provide when they
support each other to reach important outcomes. He emphasized the relevance of APEC in
achieving this and commended the host for the coming up with the sub-themes: Women and
Inclusive Business; Women in the International Markets and Global Value Chains; and
Women and Sustainable Development as it provided great foundation to further the
conversation thus far and as these showcased foresight and aspirational focus to advance
women’s economic empowerment agenda.
Australia expressed its disappointment that the 2014 economic participation rate of women
lags behind of men and is under 50 per cent in many APEC economies. Ambassador
Tweddell noted how limiting women’s participation in the workforce is a waste of potential
which would amount to an estimated US$ 89 billion every year.
Although Australia entered their 25th
consecutive year of growth which has forged
unprecedented trade links within the region, their economy still faces challenges. As of
today, Australia has an ageing population and this challenge pushes downward pressure on
income growth, while the investment boom is behind them. Ambassador Tweddell shared
that increasing workforce participation and productivity is among the considered solutions.
Currently, the level of women’s workforce participation in Australia is 71 per cent, which is
behind men with 83 per cent.
Ambassador Tweddell reported that the Australian government is therefore working closely
with the private sector in creating conditions for business to innovate and help to drive the
social change necessary for real progress on women’s economic participation. Australia is
currently working on:
1) Studying the economic conditions for employment growth;
2) Improving the accessibility and affordability of Australia’s child care system;
3) Supporting women in small business and encouraging more women entrepreneurs;
4) Examining the disincentives to work in the tax and transfer system, and implementing
programs that help women overcome barriers to employment; and
5) Supporting women to pursue careers in growth industries and to reach senior
leadership positions.
Australia maintained its commitment to remain at the forefront and to sustain its close
collaboration with regional and multilateral organizations in promoting gender equality and
women’s economic empowerment. In this regard, Australia set a target requiring at least 80
per cent of aid investments, regardless of their objectives, to address gender issues effectively
in the implementation process.
Ambassador Tweddell shared how APEC economies play an important role in steering the
conversation where women’s economic empowerment is not a woman’s issue, but an
economic and cultural issue. He encouraged all economies to make concrete commitments to
increase the participation of women in their economy.
Page 70 of 108
Australia stated that gender equality and the economic empowerment of women is an
achievable goal. By way of closing, Australia expressed its unwavering support in making
men as equal partners to achieve a future where gender equality truly exists. Ambassador
Tweddell said that by engaging men, this will drive and accelerate the changes needed to
achieve it.
Brunei Darussalam
Brunei Darussalam, represented by Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports Deputy Minister
Datin Paduka Hajah Adina Binti Othman, shared how women’s role has gained its
prominence in the society and economy. Deputy Minister Adina acknowledged how the
theme "women as prime movers of inclusive growth" is timely and cannot be denied. As
policy makers, she encouraged everyone to ensure that there are facilities that can provide an
enabling environment allowing women to participate in their respective economy.
Brunei Darussalam recognized women as the backbone of the family being the primary
educators at the first line of informal education. Deputy Minister Adina stated that women
play the vital role in the upbringing of their children and equipping them with intellectual and
social skills while, managing the household. She explained that this poses challenges for
modern women as they juggle responsibilities being a mother and part of the workforce. To
address this, she shared that capacity building and empowerment programs have been
Brunei’s supporting mechanisms for women as emphasized in their Plan of Action under the
purview of the Special Committee on Family Institution and Women Issues which highlight
eight priority areas:
1) Strengthening family institutions
2) Work-life balance
3) Economy
4) Women and legal rights
5) Information
6) Health
7) Education
8) National mechanism for women empowerment
Brunei Darussalam shared that these programs are implemented in close coordination with
the government agencies, NGOs, private sectors, and other stakeholders within their
community. This Plan of Action incorporates key performance indicators and timelines to
ensure the outcomes of each line of action.
In acknowledging the role of women as movers of inclusive growth, Brunei emphasized the
need to implement target-specific policies to build resilience in our women and equip women
with necessary skills and knowledge to increase their competitive edge.
Brunei shared that the outline for strategy and policy development in their national vision
2025 provides equal opportunities for women in the labor force even in the male dominated
organizations. As of today, Deputy Minister Adina reported that with more than half of
SMEs in Brunei owned by women, young women’s participation in online home businesses
is the recent trend. She stated that these business enthusiasts participate locally as well as the
regional market through the use of technology and social media as platform for advertising
and by finding innovative ways to deliver their services.
Page 71 of 108
Brunei stated that research play a major role in isolating specific challenges and to accelerate
women’s innovativeness throughout the journey towards gender equity, gender equality, and
women’s economic empowerment. In their economy, Technology Park, knowledge hub, and
financial grants were provided to further the innovation. Deputy Minister Adina shared that
they also closely work with representatives of international bodies like the UN Women,
UNICEF, and UNESCO.
Canada
Canada, represented by Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary H.E. Neil Reeder,
stated that women are an essential role player and equal partner in pursuing the growth and
prosperity of an economy and the Asia Pacific Region. Statistics show that progress has been
made globally wherein:
1) Women represent 40 per cent of the global workforce;
2) Women represent 43 per cent of the global agricultural workforce;
3) Women represent more than half of the world’s university students; and
4) In the APEC region, more than 60 per cent are women are part of the formal
economy.
On another note, Ambassador Reeder reported that women are significantly underrepresented
as a proportion of small business owners in Canada. In 2011, Canadian women held majority
of leadership in only 15 per cent of small businesses. Further, majority of women-owned
businesses engaged in Canada tend to be smaller in size, smaller in revenue and growth rate,
and less likely to be incorporated than business of male-owned counterparts. Nevertheless,
significant progress is currently trending in Canada as statistics shows that 1) four out of five
businesses are founded by women; 2) women business owners now employ 1.7 million
Canadian out of its 34 million citizens; 3) women-owned SMEs generated US$ 74 billion in
revenue; and 5) 5 per cent of all export-sales abroad was generated by women-led SMEs.
Ambassador Reeder stated that the benefits of women’s economic empowerment are now
broadly understood. Significant progress abroad has been helpful in assisting girls and
women around the world to realize the right to education and participate meaningfully in their
economies and society.
Canada also recognized the significant skills gap between men and women particularly in
developing economies. Ambassador Reeder noted how this translates into lower labor force
participation of women and the tendency of women to be channeled to lower status pay for
employment.
In this regard, Canada proposed the following recommendations focusing on three major
areas:
1) Canada emphasized the need to ensure that laws, policies and institutions enable
women’s full and equal participation in the economy are in place. This includes the
need to break down restrictions for women to own land, ability to open and manage
their own business, participate in skills training, and have access to finance;
2) Canada suggested ensuring that women are integrated into economic decision-making
and committed to support initiatives for women entrepreneurs as well as ensuring
women and girls have access to learning and training opportunities to have enough
skills to participate in the economy on an equal footing with their male counterparts.
Capacitating them with necessary skills for employment will help facilitate access to
Page 72 of 108
labor markets for marginalized or disadvantaged population including women and
youth.
Canada cited that in the Philippines, they are supporting the GREAT Women Project
which assists micro entrepreneurs in the food, clothing, textile, and household goods
sectors to successfully and sustainably grow their businesses through enhancing their
products, increase their productivity, marketing, and compliance with safety and
business regulations. It also helps connect Philippines to the domestic and
international markets. Canada shared that they have placed assistance through the
Philippine Commission on Women with a total contribution of 14 million dollars in
two phases.
Furthermore, Canada reported that in the Philippines through grant in Asian
Development Bank, they are supporting the program called JOBSTART which aims
to improve the job readiness of Filipino youth, both male and female who are not in
employment, in education or in training. Canada explained that they provide them
enhanced employment facilitation assistances like career guidance, life skills training,
technical training, and internship with employers. Canada cited the study conducted
by ADB which shows that more than one-third of women fall into this category
compared to 1 out of 5 men in the Philippines. Additionally, women who are high
school graduates are more than 3 times more likely to be unemployed, not in training
or educational programs, as compared to women who are college graduate.
Eventually, Canada emphasized that skills for employment, particularly more targeted
at women, play an important role in promoting economic growth as well as
development goals. Ambassador Reeder explained that women who are educated and
trained are not only better equipped to provide for themselves, but better equipped to
provide for their families. He also mentioned that women who tend to marry later,
have fewer children, although they provide better health and nutrition for their
families and, they contribute more to the wider economy; and
3) Canada recognized that women are crucial to long term economic growth having
multiple roles as worker, entrepreneur, consumer, caregiver, and leader contribute
enormously to local and global economies. Canada has taken action to promote
greater rates for women’s entrepreneurship. The Action Plan for Women
Entrepreneurs is part of the 2015 budget to help women connect with the tools they
need to succeed in business. Canada also provides funding including US$ 700 million
available for 3 years in order to finance women-owned businesses in Canada though
Canada’s Business Development Bank.
Canada shared that they have a project called It Starts with One, which is a campaign
designed to encourage successful business leaders to make a difference in a woman’s
career by being her champion. They create online tools for young women
entrepreneurs and lead to enhance trade missions abroad to network. The Department
of Foreign Affairs and Trade is compiling some of the best practices such as to
promote market expansion into a dedicated website for women entrepreneurs in
Canada, newsletter, a dedicated LinkedIn group, as well as a directory of women-
owned businesses in Canada to facilitate dialogue and interaction in our women’s
business community. Working together on these key issues, women’s autonomy and
Page 73 of 108
leadership, skills for employment, and support of institution and legal environment,
Canada expressed its confidence that real progress will be made in advancing
women’s economic empowerment, economic security, and right.
Canada encouraged APEC through PPWE to continue to identify and support best practices
in the abovementioned areas.
Chile
Chile, represented by National Women’s Service Minister Counsellor Mrs. Alicia Frohmann,
emphasized that “his-tory” does not necessarily mean “her-story.” Mrs. Frohmann explained
that economic growth does not automatically lead to inclusive growth. She explained that
during the time of the slowdown of economic growth at the international financial crisis,
Chile tapped the potential of women through their economic participation.
Although big progress in health and education indicators has been made according to the
2014 World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report, Chile stated that they are behind
economic and political participation which involve power relationship. Mrs. Frohmann
explained that women’s movement, public policy focusing on women and gender equality,
contribution of smart and creative women in science, business, and politics have changed
their society. Further, she said that having a woman President H.E. Michelle Bachelet made
a difference.
Chile shared the following updates in their economy to further advance women’s
participation:
1) Chile reformed their electoral law. Temporary quota for women was put in place
wherein not more than 60 per cent of names of people on the ballots can be of
members of one sex. This is to ensure 40 per cent quota on the ballots, and to
encourage political parties to include women;
2) On 8 March International Women’s Day, Chile has made an institutional reform
which created the Ministry for Women and Gender Equality; an upgrade of the
previous status of the government agency for women;
3) Regarding equal rights, there is a certification or norm 3262-2012 for gender equal
rights certification of organization following ISO standards and certification;
4) Regarding health and reproductive rights, the government of Chile has presented a bill
to de-penalize involuntary pregnancy interruption in three cases: a) threat for the
woman’s life; b) lack of life viability of the fetus; and c) rape. This is now being
discussed in their Parliament though quite controversial; and
5) Meanwhile, improvements on the labor rights have been made such as through the
ratification of ILO Convention number 189 regarding decent work for domestic
workers and the new domestic Chilean law that guarantee the rights of women as part
of our society.
In APEC, Chile enumerated the four initiatives that they are currently participating in:
1) WE-APEC Network pilot program participation which provides avenue for
networking with member economies particularly in America;
2) Pilot economy for the Healthy Women, Healthy Economy Policy Toolkit;
3) On the gender gap in education in math and sciences, there will be a seminar in
Santiago on 13 and 14 October wherein everyone is invited; and
4) Current project they are developing is on Best Practices on Women MSME Exporters.
Page 74 of 108
Chile also proposed to include gender specific commitment in trade and trade negotiations in
free trade areas in the Asia Pacific initiatives. Chile shared that they are participating in the
Free-Trade Area of the Asia Pacific (FTAAP) Joint Strategic Study and will propose this
issue in the study group.
Chile shared that in 2019, being the host of APEC; they plan to establish a working group
composed of the present and future host to coordinate for the Women and the Economy
Forum. They plan to propose women’s economic inclusion as a priority issue at the APEC
Leaders’ level in 2019. This will include addressing issues on: women’s resilience in times
of natural disaster; disparities in labor force participation; women’s political and economic
empowerment; overcoming poverty for women and the impact on development; and
promotion of women-led SMEs, among others.
Lastly, Chile assured that they will bring back home the ideas and energy generated in the
meetings and that they will strive to implement all the ideas raised.
People’s Republic of China
The People’s Republic of China, represented by All China Women’s Federation Mme. Meng
Xiaosi, mentioned the following policy recommendations:
1) On supporting women to do online business, China highlighted the need to enhance
the development by letting APEC women be part of the network;
2) Provide support for women to be part of the Global Value Chain;
3) Open up opportunities for women to gain access to capital, existing internet platforms.
They suggested for women entrepreneurs to network amongst others;
4) Create an inclusive economic environment for women; and
5) APEC to increase women’s economic development by improving the status of women
that have unpaid work.
Ultimately, Mme. Meng mentioned that they will continue to work hand in hand with its
APEC partners.
Indonesia
Indonesia, represented by Ministry of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection Minister
Yohana Susana Yembise, recognized how the 2015 APEC WE 2015 Fora theme is inspiring
and very relevant to the slow growth of the current economic conditions that require all
elements of the community to be informed in the economic development.
Indonesia shared that in their economy, women’s economic growth in the MSME sector
increased by 70 per cent in 2015. There was also progress in the utilization of ICT which
provided the opportunity for both woman and man to engage in business. Currently,
Indonesia’s internet penetration rate has increased significantly making them place as the 4th
in the world in terms of access to the internet.
Furthermore, Indonesia provided the following updates:
1) Women in decision making positions in the government and private sector have also
increased. In the executive body, it elevated from 9 per cent in 2010 to 16 per cent in
2015; whilst in private sectors, women CEOs have increased from 2 per cent in 2010
to 5 per cent in 2013;
Page 75 of 108
2) Training and marketing assistance have been provided to women-owned micro, small,
and medium enterprises with general agricultural products such as coffee, tea, and
batik;
3) To assist women in informal sector, Indonesian government has conducted mapping
and survey of woman in household and now preparing a special policy to promote
their productivity and opportunity to market their products while, protecting them
from discriminatory policy and regulations; and
4) Indonesia put up the Presidential instruction number 9 on gender mainstreaming
which will be carried out by ministries down to district governments to ensure that
women and men have equal access to participate, benefit and control development
including in the economy. In 2012, government issued national strategy for the
acceleration of the implementation of gender mainstreaming through gender
responsive planning and budgeting. Indonesia stated that in the current mid-term
national development plan for 2015 and 2019, 30 government agencies have planned
to integrate gender policies and programs in their ministries to eliminate gender
discrimination.
To address the constraints and obstacles to achieve gender equality and women’s economic
empowerment, Indonesia proposed the following policy recommendations and strategies:
1) Each economy is encouraged to make the public procurement more inclusive for
woman;
2) Promote policies and practices to support flexible working arrangements and work-
life balance;
3) Promote policies to encourage the public sector to procure goods and services from
women-owned businesses;
4) Undertake and disseminate gender analysis of policies and programs related to micro
economic stability, structural reform, taxation, and foreign direct investments;
5) Link policies on social development to ensure poor and vulnerable group benefit from
economic growth and development;
6) Develop and implement gender sensitive employment center growth strategies based
on full and productive employment, decent work for women and men;
7) Adopt and enforce the principle of decent work in both formal and informal sectors
giving due consideration to gender equality perspective in implementation;
8) Develop methodologies, tools and capacities for gender responsive budget process to
ensure the systematic incorporation of gender perspective in all budget and planning
processes;
9) Maintain statistical instruments to measure in quantitative and qualitative terms
unpaid work that is outside national account to reflect better its value in policies,
strategies, plans and budgets across all relevant sectors; and
10) Promote the greater recognition that care work should be shared between the state,
private sector, civil society and household between men and women and strengthen
dialogue and coordination between all relevant stakeholders.
Indonesia concluded that the fora should be a medium not only to exchange information and
best practices on the role of women and contribution in the economic sector, but should also
be a medium to holistically address the common constraints and challenges faced by women.
Page 76 of 108
Japan
Japan, represented by the Cabinet Office Vice-Minister for Special Missions Mr. Kazuhiko
Ishihara, stated that Prime Minister Abe’s administration has been the first in Japan to
address woman’s participation in the economic context. Vice-Minister Ishihara shared how
these efforts clearly change the Japanese society and wished to move together with the APEC
member economies.
Japan proposed three policy recommendations as follows:
1) Promote the creation of a Framework to advance women’s empowerment. As such,
by the end of August 2015, Japan’s diet passed an Act on the promotion of women’s
participation and advancement in the work place. This act aims to promote the active
participation of women in the workplace not only in government organizations, but
also national government agencies, and large companies are obligated to create and
publish an action plan for the promotion and recruitment of women including specific
numeric progress. For instance, if a company will make an effort to promote
productive and sustainable work-life balance, the government will support that
company through government procurement.
Japan also encouraged economies’ participation to the APEC Project that enhances
women’s leadership through the establishment of Individual Action Plan. Japan
explained that each economy could include voluntary targets which they could work
on by the end of 2020;
2) Japan expressed its hope for economies’ active participation in this and work together
to advance women’s empowerment in the APEC region. They believe that by
including more people in action for women’s empowerment, in particular men, this
will create a win-win society for everyone.
Japan shared that they hosted a World Assembly for Women (WAW!) in August 2015
in Tokyo, which brought global wisdom that made people realize that a society where
women shines exist. It also provided opportunity for male global leaders to share that
women’s economic empowerment to a better place for all and to encourage to support
each other; and
3) Japan raised the need to empower woman to take leadership positions. In case of the
great Japan earthquake in March 2011, women including the elderly and persons with
disabilities are the most affected in times of disasters in Japan. Women involvement
in decision-making in disaster risk reduction is highly encouraged as women’s
perspective is critical, in particular, into family, health, and safety.It also contributes
to the safety and security of the community.
Taking note that natural disasters can happen anywhere, Japan shared the document
which was circulated to the attendees, which stated the experience of women from the
Great East Japan earthquake. They encouraged the APEC economies to use this
document as reference in discussing women’s economic empowerment in disaster
reconstruction efforts. Japan also informed that they held a workshop on Good
Practice on Woman Entrepreneurship in the Local Communities in the Process of
Disaster Reconstruction which aimed to share to APEC member economies, Japan’s
experience in reconstruction phase.
Page 77 of 108
In conclusion, Japan expressed its hope that the outcomes of this dialogue will lead to
concrete actions for promoting the economic participation of women in the APEC region.
Republic of Korea
The Republic of Korea, represented by Ministry of Gender Equality and Family Minister
Heejung Kim, reported on the importance of capitalizing on women’s talents and its
contribution to sustainable economic growth.
Minister Kim mentioned how women’s economic participation rate has to increase for
economic growth. In comparison, a country with a US$ 40,000 per capita income versus a
country with a US$ 50,000 per capita income will generate over 60 per cent and 70 per cent
female economic participation rate respectively.
Minister Kim explained that generally, a country with high GDP per capita also shows higher
rate of women’s economic participation. In the diagram presented, employment rate of
women in GDP per capita and birthrate are very closely related. In all three areas, Republic
Korea’s numbers are far below OECD average. Moreover, study shows that if low birthrate
continues, Minister Kim stated that Korean population will be extinct by 2750. But this
program is not only for Korea, even China with the world’s largest population of 1.3 billion
could face similar situation.
Republic of Korea explained that utilizing women resources is necessary due to the low birth
rate problem. To encourage women’s participation, Minister Kim said that the Korean
government has been focusing on four dimensions: Recruit, Retention, Re-start, and
Representation.
1) Recruit: Republic of Korea noted that there is no gender gap at entry level positions;
however, there is a difference as the economic activity of man is 94 per cent; but for
women, it is below 60 per cent. Further, more men get to be promoted than women.
The economic participation of those at the age of 30s is 90 per cent wherein women’s
participation is very low.
2) Retention: Republic of Korea emphasized that for women to continue their career,
family culture and work life balance policies is important. Hence, Minister Kim
reported that Korean government has developed a policy promoting flexible working
hours and childcare systems are done in order to have quality time. For individuals
and families, Korean government is working on campaigning quality time together
once a week by declaring every Wednesday as a Family day.
3) Re-start: Republic of Korea shared that there are support centers with over 100
networks nationwide providing counselling, job connection, and career development
education. Minister Kim explained that the government encourages company
management programs for them to promote family friendly management. Since
implementing the certification policy, she stated that the mindsets of corporations are
now changing and more of them are practicing family friendly management. The
number of companies was up almost to tens of thousands and counting this year.
Korean government is also providing incentives including time extension on local tax
audit and interest rates benefit resulting to higher growth and lower turnover.
4) Representation: With the representation of the first female President Madame Park
Geun-hye, Minister Kim shared that the public sector is leading the change with a
goal of women’s advancement in employment with 40 per cent of women leaders in
the public sector and 50 per cent women managers in the private sector. In the
Page 78 of 108
Republic of Korea, Minister Kim stated that they are working hard in encouraging the
private sector to include women in management and leadership positions.
In conclusion, the Minister Kim encouraged everyone to "Let's go together!”
Malaysia
Malaysia, represented by Ministry of Women, Family, and Community Development Deputy
Minister Senator Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun, mentioned that in 2015, the total population
of Malaysia is amounting to 30.5 million with women comprising 48.7 per cent.
Since 1989 through the formulation of national policy for women which was later on
reviewed in 2009 together with the formulation of the plan of action for the advancement of
women, Deputy Minister Fun shared that empowering women has always been part of
Malaysia’s plan. She stated that it was first mentioned in fourth Malaysian plan followed by
the sixth and tenth, where woman and gender continue to be the focus particularly in the
economic development specifics to increase female labor force participation rate from the
47.9 per cent in 2011 to 55 per cent in 2015.
To increase the number of women in key decision positions, Malaysia stated that they plan to
be a high income nation by 2020 under the economic transformations program. Deputy
Minister Fun expounded that the objective in increasing female labor participation rate will
continue in the 11th
Malaysian plan which is 2016-2020 where the new target is to achieve 59
per cent participation of women in the work force by 2020. Apart from this, she shared that
the goal is to realize 30 per cent participation of women directors in corporate boards of
public listed companies. From 46.4 per cent in 2007, 54.1 per cent of women in the first
quarter of 2015 are now participating in Malaysia’s work force.
In order to achieve and support the abovementioned targets, Malaysia did the following:
1) Promote flexible work life by using ICT to enhance work efficiency and employee
participation. Malaysia put up an online portal which aims to view a network of
employers and talents that optimize work-life integration while maximizing efficiency
and enhancing employee engagement. It also serves as repository of best ideas and
practices in flexible working arrangements as well as family friendly facilities. The
key features of the portal are the network available between the employee and
employer. List of the job opportunities and incentives are also provided;
2) The government of Malaysia also launched a Career Comeback Program to encourage
woman to return to job market. Under this program, there is the resourcing grant and
retention grant introduced to provide incentives to employers to implement programs
to recruit and retain women who have been on career break; and
3) Support women in decision-making roles through Women Director Program, with at
least 30 per cent of women in decision making in public sector has been adopted in
2004. Women in top management position in the public sector have increased by 18.8
per cent in 2004 to 33 per cent in June 2015. Due to the remarkable progress made in
the public sector, at least 30 per cent of women in decision making positions in the
corporate sector in 2011 are implemented through Malaysia’s corporate governance.
Companies are required to disclose policies and targets with respect to companies’
positions of women in their report. Three views of the program are: Registry,
sourcing, and reporting. Malaysia explained that this will help track achievements of
the key performance indicators of the women director program.
Page 79 of 108
Malaysia reaffirmed the importance of women to be part of economic resources and having
opportunities to uplift their capability in order to optimize their potential as economy building
contributors to the country.
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, represented by Department of Religion, Youth, and Community
Development Secretary Anna Solomon, thanked the Philippines for giving them the
opportunity to host the first PPWE Meeting in Port Moresby in May 2015 which provided
them a handful of experience in preparation for their hosting in 2018.
Papua New Guinea shared that they are a very young economy in APEC, as compared to the
other APEC member economies. They are diverse in terms of culture whereas with 7.3
million people, there are 850 distinct languages, and 3 national languages. Eighty per cent of
its population lives in the rural areas with very ragged terrains. Secretary Solomon explained
that this back drop posed challenges for them such as timely delivery of services. On a
lighter note, Papua New Guineans, most especially the women, are very resilient. She stated
that they have learned a lot from the bigger economies and the journey that they have taken.
Papua New Guinea highlighted the importance of informal economy and microenterprises.
Secretary Solomon suggested on having discussions on financial inclusion, financial literacy,
and the most basic adult literacy, since there is still a lot in their population that are not able
to read and write.
The hosting of the PPWE 1 Meeting showcased Papua New Guinea’s commitment of
wanting to learn more from bigger economies and to make improvement on the conditions of
their women. Further, Secretary Solomon said that they are committed to the Bogor Goals,
particularly in addressing the challenges of the global financial crisis while, acknowledging
the challenges of the social dimension of globalization.
Papua New Guinea’s constitution called on equal participation in political, economic, social
and religious aspects. Secretary Solomon stated that religion played the biggest part in their
country being one of the major service providers to the most rural areas. With this, main line
churches are considered as strategic partners in service delivery.
With a heightened focus on Human Capital Development, Papua New Guinea’s Vision 2050
strongly recommended intervention programs which aim to have gender equality be given
more attention and support with sufficient resources. Secretary Solomon emphasized that
although these policies are listed in documents, the reality shows that these sometimes do not
happen.
Through the Papua New Guinea’s Medium-term Development Strategy 2011-2015, gender
equality and reducing violence against women are identified as key to promoting long term
economic and social development. This strategy highlights the need for gender responsive
budgeting, recognizing gender inequality as a severe threat to development.
Papua New Guinea further shared that their government focused on three areas: 1) women
leadership; 2) women’s economic empowerment; and 3) gender-based violence. But now,
they are shifting the focus to women’s economic empowerment as a way of addressing
Page 80 of 108
gender-based violence. Through structural changes and policy interventions, women now
move to leadership positions. There is also Papua New Guinea’s gender equality and social
inclusion policy that put quota for women to attain leadership roles based on meritocracy. As
of today, Papua New Guinea proudly shared that there are now 3 women secretaries in their
government.
In order to do this, Papua New Guinea suggested to look for male champions in advocating
women’s empowerment and also noted the need to study the context of each village to
appropriately address stereotypes on women. Additionally, the benefits brought by strong
private sector participation were also cited.
As she ended her remarks, Secretary Solomon congratulated the Philippines for their
ICONOGRAPH exhibit.
Peru
Peru, represented by Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Peoples Minister Marcela Huaita,
proposed the following policy recommendations:
1) In 2015, Peru’s Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Peoples has created a General
Directorate of Promotion and Development for Women’s Economic Rights which will
be responsible in policy formulation and coordination with the public, regional
government, private companies, as well as with international and technical
organizations. In this regard, Minister Huaita emphasized the importance of having
an institutional framework which advocates for women’s economic rights and
participation which will help utilize specific programs that will ensure women’s
access to financial and technological resources;
2) Peru suggested having a multi-sectoral gender national plan with strategic objectives.
In this plan, they recommend to include ways of addressing gaps in women’s
participation in Science and Technology; guarantee women’s economic rights; reduce
gender based violence in all legislations; increase the participation of women and men
in the decision making and political and civic participation; and assess the
contribution of women in the sustainable natural resources; and
3) Peru recognized the APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard as an important tool
to advancing progress in reducing barriers to women’s economic participation across
the PPWE five pillars. The same as what they do in Peru, Minister Huaita
recommended having a national system for gender equality aligned to quality policies
and indicators. They use this as an instrument to facilitate the monitoring and
evaluation of public management for gender equality at the different sectors of
government in the national, regional, and local level.
Philippines
The Republic of the Philippines, represented by Philippine Economic Zone Authority
Director General Lilia B. De Lima, reiterated the remark of President Aquino which is in
achieving the goal of an inclusive economy, women are seen as better partners; hence, the
government provides women entrepreneurs with even more opportunities.
Director General De Lima mentioned how it is intrinsic in the Philippine society wherein
women are seen superior in many aspects, including prudent budgeting and family
advancement as a whole. She explained how the Gender Responsive Economic Actions for
Page 81 of 108
the Transformation (GREAT) of Women Project brought policies and reforms as a core
group of government agencies was formed as gender champions. These group
institutionalized processes to review and reform policies and programs that address gender
issues. For instance, these are the National Development Plan for Micro, Small and Medium
Enterprises and the Go Negosyo Act or Go into Business Law which showcase that women
are represented and consulted in the national and local MSME development. Likewise,
gender champions started to streamline and simplify business registrations and improved
access to business development services through the local investment and enterprise
promotion services.
The Philippines also cited the advocacies of the Women’s Business Council Philippines and
Women Corporate Directors Philippines through the support of the Management Association
of the Philippines which promote more women in managerial roles in companies. However,
women MSMEs on the other hand, face difficulties in linking in international markets and
global value chains. As a way of addressing this, she acknowledged and praised the WE-
APEC Network online portal which is the initiative of the United States.
On the other hand, the Philippines stated that the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources is intensifying efforts on the use of green technology and environmental-friendly
businesses and in the development of alternative livelihood specific for women in the upland
areas particularly in the agro-industry and eco-tourism; while the Department of Science and
Technology builds women-friendly designs for the equipment of small businesses benefiting
mostly women.
The Philippines noted that a lot still needs to be done for the full implementation of the
Magna Carta of Women and the Strategic Plan for Women and the Economy to intensify
gender responsive capacity building skills training. In support of these initiatives, Director
General De Lima, as head of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority, committed to pilot the
implementation of the Healthy Women, Healthy Economy Toolkit in the PEZA economic
zones. She stated that there are 3,500 companies and counting inside these PEZA economic
zones which account for more than 80 per cent of total exports of the Philippines.
Additionally, she shared that out of the 1.3 million directly employed by PEZA, 58 per cent
of it are women; the same ratio of women in managerial positions in Filipino-owned
companies inside these zones. But for foreign-owned companies, 90 per cent of which are
male managers.
Director General De Lima shared that they aim to influence medium and large scale
companies to link with MSMEs as part of their supply chain to promote inclusive business.
She also expressed its gratitude to the government of Canada for the continuous support on
the GREAT Women Project, among others.
In conclusion, the Philippines emphasized the need to formalize an APEC-wide exchange
platform or portal for women in enterprises to encourage mentoring, sharing of best practices
and success stories, training, access to marketing, financing, among others to reach many
women entrepreneurs in the APEC region.
Russia
Russia, represented by Ministry of Economic Development Deputy Director of Asia, Africa
and Latin America Department Ms. Natalia Strigunova, took note that the Philippines was the
Page 82 of 108
economy who launched the theme of women’s empowerment in the APEC Agenda. She
recounted that the first Ministerial Meeting was held in Manila and paved way for the
drafting of the Framework for the Integration of Women in the APEC Agenda.
Russia recommended for economies to increase women’s economic performance by
launching projects and, organizing capacity building events in collaboration with other fora.
This will also create an efficient and favorable environment that support women’s economic
activities. Ms. Strigunova noted that one of the distinctive features of modern global
economic development is the growing role of women in international business activities. In
Russia, as guaranteed by their Constitution, women are equal to men in their rights and
economic opportunities.
In the recent years, Russia discussed that to ensure livelihood balance for women with
children, the ministry of labor has prepared a set of programs that include measures to ensure
the reliability of record on education, health, children, as well as flexible forms of
employment and decent employment for women, including the promotion of self-
employment organization of occasional guidance and training for women on maternity leave.
Russia stated that there are about five and a half million small and medium enterprises, with
women owning 35 per cent and also share 25 per cent of the products and services produced
by women-led SMEs. Women are prevalent in the fields such as consulting, advertising,
tourism, social services, and business activities in the areas which provide good opportunities
for the Russian economy. Ms. Strigunova interestingly noted that in the 2014 Global
Entrepreneurship Monitoring, Russian companies founded by women are more successful
during the first year, in comparison with companies founded by man.
Ms. Strigunova stated that the Russian government focused on providing support for female
business initiatives and unleashing their potential since 2013. These measures are
implemented within the program of SMEs support, realized by the Ministry of Economy and
Development of Russia. Additionally, Russia has also paid attention to the creation of special
infrastructure; business incubation sites; science and technology industrial parks; centers for
business development; and financial organizations.
In APEC, Russia emphasized the need to focus more on increasing projects and activities for
women, specifically through PPWE to be approved by APEC. Russia expressed its support
to the PPWE Strategic Plan 2015-2018 and Gender Criteria for APEC Project Proposals as
these create comprehensive approach to increasing the efficiency of the PPWE work.
However, Russia commented the need to be realistic and patient in setting goals and
timelines. They explained that our priority is to have a quality and reliable work and policy
recommendations which are used by our Ministers and Leaders.
Russia mentioned how every woman entrepreneur in APEC has her own unique story of
success and rich experience that she can share with others. Hence, Russia recommended
developing communication, networking, and coordination among economy level, business
network, private sector initiatives and government services that support and strengthen the
capacities of women owned enterprises and female entrepreneurs in the APEC region.
By way of doing so, Ms. Strigunova shared that in Russia, they have a National Business
Success Cup which provides an avenue in discovering new business talent of women
innovators or entrepreneurs. She expounded that this Cup is a business competition which
Page 83 of 108
includes nomination of women’s best projects wherein regional winners are provided
opportunities to participate in international exchange programs that aim at sharing business
experience. Ms. Strigunova added that this provides an excellent chance for local
entrepreneurs to be acquainted with international best business practices, get new contacts
and easier access to new finance sources and new markets.
Lastly, Russia stated that they are open for new projects and initiatives to co-sponsor.
Further, Russia shared that they will also launch their own project and will be open for
communication.
Singapore
Singapore, represented by Ministry of Social and Family Development Senior Director Mrs.
Tan Hwee Seh, stated that to achieve economic empowerment, women need equal
opportunities for education, skills and capacity building, fair employment and leadership.
Senior Director Tan explained that women-owned enterprises need equal access to resources
such as capital and market.
Singapore shared their experience in the following areas and also provided recommendations
accordingly:
1) Equal Opportunity: Senior Director Tan shared that in the UN Human
Development Report 2014, Singapore ranked 15th
out of 152 countries in the gender
equality index. This report includes the opportunities available to women in areas
such as labor markets and empowerment, education, skills, and capacity building. She
explained that the key is to invest and maximize the potential of the people regardless
of gender, race, or creed. By doing so, education becomes the key enabler in
harnessing the potential of women. In Singapore, more than half of the university
graduates are women and now well represented in subjects traditionally viewed as
male dominated, in particular in STEM.
2) Fair Employment: Singapore shared that the employment rate for female workers
(aged 25 to 54) was 76 per cent in 2014; while for older women (aged 55 to 64) was
52.7 per cent in the same year. Women have also made into previously male
dominated professions such as legal, engineering, accounting, professions.
Supporting women workers in Singapore is the ILO Convention 100 on Equal
Remuneration, ratified in 2002, which reinforce inclusive and non-discriminatory
work practices for women.
3) Access to Capital and Markets: Senior Director Tan cited that in Doing Business
2014 Report, Singapore ranked 17 out of 189 economies for ease of getting credit for
business. Nevertheless, she mentioned that they still face challenges particularly in
increasing the number of women in boardroom. She explained that the percentage of
women directorship in stock exchange listed companies lagged 8.3 per cent in 2013;
although it has increased marginally to 8.8 per cent in 2014. To address this, she
stated that they will further raise awareness on the economic value of having women
on board by sharing best practices.
Finally, Singapore remained confident that the APEC’s efforts to break down barriers to
women’s economic participation will enable more women to become prime movers of
inclusive growth. As Senior Director Tan explained: “we will then have more “her-story”
instead of “his-story”.”
Page 84 of 108
Chinese Taipei
Chinese Taipei, represented by Dr. Joyce Yen Feng, shared that on 16 October 2015 they co-
held with the Philippines the Seminar on Empowering Women through ICT for Inclusive
Growth. This Seminar is part of the APEC Multi-Year Project (MYP) Innovation for Women
Economic Development led by Chinese Taipei and co-sponsored by the Philippines, Republic
of Korea, Chile and Australia. Launched in 2013, this Project is the first MYP under PPWE.
It emphasized how women’s utilization of ICT to innovate and achieve economic growth by
gathering successful cases from economies that illustrate how women in the Asia Pacific
region use ICT to innovate, create business opportunity, and improve their economic status.
Dr. Feng encouraged more economies to join this project.
In line with the abovementioned, Dr. Feng enumerated the following policy
recommendations and shared the actions taken by their economy:
1) Chinese Taipei suggested for APEC Leaders and Ministers to recognize and give
importance on innovation and ICT for women’s economic development. Economies
should work on providing an enabling environment that have full and equal access to
resources and opportunities for women to participate in the global market; and
2) Chinese Taipei encouraged economies to support inclusive business by integrating
learning resources that provide diverse digital learning environment, promoting
enterprises utilizing e-learnings to cut training costs, andfree entrepreneurship training
courses to equip businesswomen with skills in each stage for the start up. Some
online open universities have already opened these courses covering business
operations, financial management, innovation, and marketing skills.
Dr. Feng shared that from 2012 to 2014, a total of 51,000 women became new
students of the online university accounting for 51 per cent of all members. Female
entrepreneurship network and information exchange platform were constructed to
create interpersonal exchange business opportunities for women and help them set up
companies successfully. Entrepreneurship service window was established to provide
consultation and guidance service for female entrepreneurs from the year 2011 to
2014.
Further, she reported that the Female Micro Start-up Program provided courses for a
total of 51,741 women trainees as well as startup consultant services for 11,303
women trainees; 6,482 women to set up their own business; and 10,920 job
opportunities for women.
Chinese Taipei also mentioned that in September 2014, Social Enterprise Action Plan
was launched at central government level which provided them a friendly ecosystem,
skills, network, and space hub for social entrepreneurs. Chinese Taipei provided
funding amounting to US$ 5.38 million dedicated for private sector to participate in
this field and help the young generation enter social entrepreneurship.
Thailand
Thailand, represented by Ministry of Social Development and Human Security Vice Minister
Pol. Gen. Suwat Chanitthikul, reported that positive developments and progress as a result of
the economy’s efforts in improving the lives of its people as reflected in the National
Economic and Social Development Plan. Vice Minister Chanitthikul reported that Thailand
Page 85 of 108
continues to achieve progress by increasing the overall opportunities for women to reach
executive or decision making level and reaching the target to double the proportion of women
in parliament, sub-district administrative organizations, and executive positions in the civil
service. Additionally, Thailand has increased the number of women entering the labor
market with 64 per cent labor force participation rate; one of the highest in the Asia Pacific
region.
Vice Minister Chanitthikul expounded that in order to improve gender equality and provide
benefits for women, nine days before the HLPD on WE, Gender Equality Law became
effective in their economy which criminalizes those who discriminate among sexes and
practice gender inequality. He added that in May 2015, Thailand’s cabinet has approved the
law on the prevention on sexual harassment, which provided a broader definition and
enforcement to protect women from sexual harassment in the workplace. This law aims to
create a more enabling environment for women to allow them to harness their full potential.
On another note, Thailand informed the body on the concept of gender budgeting which was
the topic discussed in UNDP and King Institute. He explained that despite the fact that this
topic has been acknowledged, Thailand does not have the monetary system for budgeting in
place. Hence, workshops have been conducted to provide knowledge and understanding on
gender budgeting, starting from the government and policy makers. This is to avoid the
misconception that gender budgeting is merely allocating the budget for women; but instead,
an important issue that needs to be taken into consideration.
In line with the abovementioned, Thailand has now included in their new draft Constitution a
gender budgeting policy through the formation of the National Reform Council. They
believe that this development will provide an opportunity to put forward this issue into
affirmative action. Thailand discussed further that as a member of ASEAN and with the
establishment of the ASEAN Community, this will provide women a better chance to
compete with other economies. In their Ministry, they have conducted workshops with the
aim to promote economic and trade development, and improve entrepreneurial skills.
Together with the rest of the economies, Thailand reiterated its commitment to advance
gender equality goals and women’s economic development agenda in APEC. Further,
Thailand committed to continue working with other APEC economies to realize our common
goals which is: to invest in gender equality and women empowerment not just in monetary
terms, but also to change the social bias against this goal. Vice Minister Chanitthikul said
that through the recognition of the contributions that women can make, there will be
prosperity and inclusive growth in the region.
United States of America
The United States of America, represented by US Department of State Ambassador-at-Large
for Global Women’s Issues H.E. Catherine Russell, recalled the two important milestones for
gender equality, citing the anniversaries of the 1995 United Nations 4th
World Conference on
Women held in Beijing and the adoption of Learning and Development Goals in 2000.
Ambassador Russell noted how these initiatives drove progress for over two decades but at
the same time, a reminder that our quest for gender equality and women’s economic
empowerment remains unfinished.
Page 86 of 108
The United States emphasized the need for a continued commitment throughout the APEC
region and around the world in order to attain gender equality. In this regard, Ambassador
Russell gladly reported that the APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard went live at the
APEC website. She explained that the Dashboard serves as a valuable tool in developing
policies and building capacities grounded on hard data.
Another initiative that the US has recently launched a global platform called Alliance for
Global Artisan Enterprise which provides support to global artisan enterprises. In support to
this, they have launched a campaign called Choose Artisans which asks for government,
investors, private sector, and consumers to take part and support women’s entrepreneurship
both domestically and abroad. In line with this, an online portal which was also the initiative
of the US called Women’s Entrepreneurship in APEC (WE-APEC) Network was launched.
There is also a global initiative called SPARK which was launched to help emerging
entrepreneurs generate over US$ 1 billion in private investments in their businesses. US
stated that more than half of the investments to be raised will benefit women and youth.
Additionally, US shared that they opened several women’s entrepreneurship centers in Africa
and Asia and will continue to provide brick and mortar for women entrepreneurs to get the
resources they need to start and grow their own businesses.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Russell informed the body that the US Small Business
Administration launched the Innovate Her challenge earlier this year. This initiative aims to
discover products and services across the US that help empower women and their families.
US also expressed their delightfulness for being part of the APEC’s efforts to develop
Healthy Women, Healthy Economy Policy Toolkit that was launched on 17 September 2015.
She stated that they will continue to implement President Obama’s Signature Healthcare Law
which has specific benefits for women. For instance, in early September, President Obama
ordered federal contractors to offer employees 7 days of paid sick leave.
Another initiative led by US is the Young Southeast Asian Leadership Initiative (YSEALI)
which provides leadership opportunities to young women and men in ten regional economies.
They also now bring their attention to traditionally male dominated sectors like
transportation, by working with APEC economies to improve women’s representation across
that sector from boardroom to shipping docks.
Furthermore, US shared that they are also investing for the leaders of tomorrow. Ambassador
Russell informed that earlier this year, President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama
launched That Girls Learn Initiative to tackle the challenges that keep 52 million girls from
going to school over the world. As a support to this initiative, she shared that three-week
camp for girls was organized in July which focused on science, technology and, engineering,
art and design, and math, in addition to leadership skills training. The Obama
Administration’s Strategic Plan on STEM Education prioritizes STEM Educations for groups
underrepresented in these areas including women and girls.
Ultimately, US duly noted that none of these work would not be possible without the
collaboration and support of economies, civil society, and the private sector. Joint efforts of
these sectors are key to the strength and importance of APEC to the global effort to support
women and girls.
Page 87 of 108
Viet Nam
Viet Nam, represented by Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs Deputy Minister
Nguyen Trong Dam, remarked that APEC is an important avenue to discuss economic
cooperation and women’s empowerment. In their economy, laws and policies have been
initiated and considerable number of programs have created opportunities and provided
women access to employment opportunity, getting out of poverty, and enhancing their
economic situation.
Deputy Minister Nguyen shared that currently; a Vietnamese woman has gotten better access
to jobs and now participates in labor market whereas female workers account for more than
48 per cent out of the 53 million workers. The rate of woman in business increased from 20
per cent in 2014 to nearly 25 per cent in 2015. They have also proactively launched and
promoted women’s status and development through women’s business networks and
collaborating with other APEC economies. They acknowledge though that challenges still
exist such as financial insecurity and the nature of business the woman has.
As a solution to this, Viet Nam emphasized that by eliminating the barriers that limit
women’s economic participation; this will encourage a more inclusive participation, promote
growth, and enable development of the economy. Viet Nam recommended for the PPWE to
create more projects supporting the Framework for the Integration of Women in APEC,
women’s economic empowerment and development, and capacity building activities.
Finally, Viet Nam highlighted how the discussions in HLPD on WE provide a place where
economies learn from each other’s experience which will be helpful in preparation for their
economy’s hosting of APEC in 2017.
ABAC
The APEC Business Advisory Council represented by its Chair Ms. Doris Magsaysay-Ho
shared their recommendations on ways in which APEC can collectively promote and support
the economic empowerment of women in the region.
This year, ABAC is guided by the theme “Resilient, Inclusive Growth: A Fair Deal for All”
which is aligned with the APEC 2015 theme “Building Inclusive Economies, Building a
Better World.” She remarked that how these themes guide us in our shared mission which is
to ensure that all segments of society – especially women – are empowered to have
meaningful access to work and business opportunities and that more people at the bottom of
the pyramid benefit from global markets.
The ABAC Chair has enumerated the following areas of concern where ABAC recommends
both business and government to address:
1) ABAC recognized the shortages of talent brought about by aging populations and how
having someone available to care for children and elderly at home will help women
enter the workforce. To address this, ABAC shared how they engaged other
economies in seeking best practices across the region, which includes providing day
care facilities offered by companies or governments and, flexible time or work at
home programs. ABAC applauded the project 50 Leading Companies for Women in
APEC spearheaded by APEC PPWE that recognized companies that offer proven and
effective ways to improve women’s economic participation;
Page 88 of 108
2) ABAC informed that they are working on with APEC on developing a new approach
called “Earn, Learn and Return” to effectively manage cross border labor flows which
they envision will provide opportunities for workers to pursue careers across borders,
but to regularly return home to be close to their families, and eventually return home
permanently to contribute their knowledge to the sending economy. This initiative
recommends a sectoral approach to education and training and the mutual recognition
of educational skills certification. ABAC expressed its support to Chile in its call for
the ratification of the ILO Convention on Domestic Helpers. They also reported that
the Philippines has adopted the convention in 2012 and has brought it a step further
with the adoption of the Domestic Workers Act in 2013;
3) ABAC welcomed the Healthy Women, Healthy Economy Policy Toolkit that
provides a menu of options for companies to implement gender sensitive policies and
programs that address the well-being, health, and work life balance of women in the
workforce. They also welcomed the Women and the Economy Dashboard as a great
way to measure the effectiveness of policies across economies;
4) ABAC recognized technology as a driver for inclusive growth and recommended to
remove barriers in order to engage in e-commerce. They shared the USC Marshall
School study which posits that technology and e-commerce are giving women the
greatest ability as entrepreneurs to have the flexibility to manage their own work life
balance and achieve financial empowerment. Through this, ABAC supported the
Boracay Action Agenda and the Cebu Action Plan mentioned by Secretary Domingo
which outlined inclusive policies that will give MSMEs and women meaningful
access to trade;
5) ABAC cited the paper they released in 2013 which showed the striking reality that the
restrictiveness in accessing capital for women entrepreneurs emanated from their lack
of assets that they own, and the insufficient business training that they have received,
if any at all. ABAC updated that they will be having a meeting with SME Ministers
to discuss this issue and recommend solutions;
6) Recognizing how technology levels the playing field, ABAC strongly recommended
for APEC to implement policies and promote more women to embrace STEM and
engineering, changing mind sets across young girls of APEC;
7) ABAC advocated the active engagement of private and public sectors in consolidating
best practices to increase women’s representation in the board room, promoting
corporate family responsibility, and integrating women-owned businesses into the
global supply chain. Furthermore, they advocated for more companies to embrace the
concept of inclusive business with larger companies developing longer value-based
partnership models with their suppliers. ABAC posits that this model can propel
SMEs owned by women into global value chains most quickly; and
8) ABAC urged APEC to lead by example. They shared that as of today, there are only
11 women out of the 63 ABAC Members, with some economies having two female
members. They said that ideally, one out of three ABAC members should be a
woman.
To cap it off, Ms. Ho congratulated the Chair for the successful PPDWE, expressed its
support to the initiatives everyone has made in their respective economies and across APEC,
and looked forward to a continuous collaboration of APEC and ABAC to achieve full
participation of women in the economy.
Page 89 of 108
Concluding remarks – Setting the Action Agenda for Women’s Economic
Empowerment
Wrapping up all discussions done thus far, the Chair, Undersecretary Terrado conveyed her
warmest and sincerest gratitude to all economies who took time to participate in the
discussions and who clearly stated their views and recommendations on how gender equality
and women’s economic empowerment agenda could be pushed forward in the APEC work
streams. Although the Chair noted that much still needs to be done, but she remained
optimistic that with economies joining hand in hand in pushing for a concrete, actionable, and
measurable policy recommendations, gradual progress is being made.
The Chair thanked the PPWE for taking the initiative in reaching out with other cross fora
through active participation in the SOM Steering Committee on ECOTECH (SCE) to ensure
that the other APEC fora and member economies take into consideration looking through a
gender perspective in assessing project proposals and initiatives originating from their
respective fora. She especially thanked the APEC Secretariat for its great decision to appoint
a Gender Focal Point who will assist the Program Director of the PPWE in ensuring that the
other APEC fora’s project proposals will be infused with a gender flavor that is acceptable to
all.
The Chair recognized the efforts of the PPWE and congratulated its Chair who has done an
excellent job in guiding the discussions for the implementation of the PPWE Strategic Plan
which further strengthened the initiatives of APEC WE and for coming up with an agreed and
acceptable language for all for the APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora Statement.
On the other hand, the Chair also congratulated the PPDWE for a very enlightening sharing
of best endeavours and success stories. She emphasized that having the presence of the
APEC Leader, no less than the President of the Republic of the Philippines H.E. Benigno S.
Aquino III strengthened our call not just Philippines as Host Economy, but Philippines
together with APEC economies, to bring back again the focus on gender equality and
women’s economic empowerment agenda.
The Chair took into account the policy recommendations and interventions made by all
Ministers and Heads of Delegations in the HLPD on WE. She reiterated the call for an action
agenda that should be given special attention for women’s economic empowerment by
enumerating these five points:
1) The Chair emphasized the importance of increasing the role of women MSMEs in
regional and global trade by putting this as our top priority. To achieve this, the Chair
encouraged economies to assist these MSMEs by improving the financial
environment through the promotion of alternative financing schemes for start-ups and
MSMEs, and by fostering inclusive and gender responsive business strategies to
empower these women entrepreneurs;
2) The Chair reiterated the call to increase the participation of women in leadership
positions such as in business and politics. She encouraged economies to promote
targeted approaches in creating an enabling environment for women where they could
reap valuable rewards in order to move to the top management position or “C-suite”.
She suggested expanding opportunities through skills and capacity development and,
peer-to-peer learning and networking among others;
3) The Chair emphasized the importance of closing the gender gap divide by increasing
women’s ability to access Science and Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM)
Page 90 of 108
and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) jobs and opportunities. She
recognized how women’s ability are harnessed through the utilization of efficient ICT
tools and smart technology in building, operating, managing, and growing women-led
enterprises;
4) The Chair promoted the use of the recently launched Healthy Women, Healthy
Economies (HWHE) policy toolkit for greater economic participation of women in
the economy; and
5) The Chair encouraged government agencies to collect and produce sex-disaggregated
data. She also expressed her support to the implementation of the Women and the
Economy Dashboard to bridge the gender gap.
Ultimately, the Chair noted how advancing women’s economic agenda has always been a
tricky issue as it cross-cuts to all sectors and relevant topics in the APEC fora. She
encouraged economies to determine which aspects APEC should put special emphasis. She
remarked that through the adoption of the Women and the Economy Statement, this will help
address the 5 Pillars of Women’s Economic Empowerment in APEC: 1) access to capital and
assets; 2) access to markets; 3) skills, capacity building, and health; 4) leadership, voice and
agency; and 5) innovation and technology.
On a personal note, the Chair expressed her gratitude to everyone who supported her execute
the leadership position or the Chairmanship of the APEC WE 2015 Fora. She humbly
thanked everyone for their understanding in case there are unintentional omissions and
commissions that she did. She shared how this experience as the Chair has been a pleasure
for her in which she will remember for life.
Formal adoption of the Women and the Economy Statement
The Chair of the HLPD on WE presented the APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora
Statement which was hereby adopted by all economies present. The APEC WE 2015 Fora
Statement serves as the APEC WE’s contribution to the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting
in November 2015, in Manila, Philippines.
The Chair invited the Past Chair represented by the People’s Republic of China and the
Incoming Chair represented by Peru to give some statement.
Remarks by the HOD of the Past and Future Chairs
People’s Republic of China
The People’s Republic of China mentioned "See you in Peru."
Peru
After eight years, Peru will be hosting once again APEC in 2016. They shared that the theme
of the APEC Women and the Economy 2016 Fora will be “Breaking Barriers to Economic
Integration of Women in the Global Market” noting how this cross-cuttings to all APEC fora.
In line with the five pillars in advancing women’s economic empowerment, the following
sub-themes are:
1) Care systems to break down barriers for inclusive growth;
2) Costs of gender-based violence in the economic development;
Page 91 of 108
3) Mechanisms for the internationalization of women entrepreneurs in Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises;
4) Financial literacy for access to capital; and
5) Digital literacy for economic inclusion.
Peru proposed to discuss the issues on digital and financial literacy, so that women can gain
access to markets, capital and assets, as well as to achieve internationalization of women
MSMEs. All of these are possible only if APEC member economies provide care systems, as
it will free up time that women devote to unpaid domestic work which impedes economic
inclusion of women. Another barrier identified is the costs of gender based violence in the
economic development of women as it causes loss of productivity in female labor force.
Peru stressed the need to have a consensus agreement on policies that promote women’s
economic empowerment and gender equality in APEC. They welcomed everyone to go to
Peru with open arms followed by the presentation of a video teaser on what they will expect
next year. The Chair expressed her excitement for Peru’s hosting in 2016.
Before she adjourned the session, the Chair once again thanked all people behind who
supported the whole execution of the APEC Women and the Economy 2015 Fora.
Page 92 of 108
Annex E: PPWE Management Council Meeting
Summary Report
Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy Management Council Meeting
(PPWE MCM)
18 September 2015 | 02:00 PM – 05:00 PM
Philippine International Convention Center
Metro Manila, Philippines
I. Preliminaries
Prior the official start of the meeting and while waiting for other economies, the participants
engaged in an informal discussion on the following:
The rationale for creating the Management Council Meeting (MCM) is to ensure
smooth transition between the current and incoming PPWE Chairs through sharing of
information on planning processes, issues and challenges in organizing the Women
and the Economy Fora and other related meetings; and
USA informed the Meeting that there is a scheduled independent assessment of
PPWE in 2016; this is already approved by the Steering Committee on ECOTECH
(SCE). SCE will hire a consultant to conduct survey and interviews among PPWE
members.
II. Opening Remarks by the 2015 PPWE Chair
The PPWE MCM Chair Ms. Emmeline L. Verzosa, welcomed everyone to the Meeting, and
warmly greeted her co-Chairs, Peru and People’s Republic of China. The MCM was
attended by the following economies: Australia, Chile, China, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia,
Peru, Philippines, Chinese Taipei, and USA. The APEC Secretariat and the APEC Business
Advisory Council were also represented.
III. Adoption of the Agenda
The agenda include the following:
A. Implementation Plan of the PPWE Strategic Plan for 2016-2018
B. APEC 2016 Work plan: An Introduction by Peru Co-Chair
C. Other Matters
The PPWE Chair invited the Economies to endorse the Agenda, which was done accordingly.
IV. Discussion and Agreements on the Agenda
A. Implementation Plan of the PPWE Strategic Plan for 2016-2018
The Meeting discussed strategies on how to sustain and further strengthen cross-fora
collaboration within APEC.
A.1. APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC)-related discussions
Australia inquired on what is the official interface between PPWE and ABAC;
ABAC representative shared that currently, the engagement is per project basis.
ABAC recently collaborated with PPWE on the development of the Healthy Women,
Healthy Economy Policy Toolkit;
Page 93 of 108
The ABAC representative expressed willingness for a more meaningful and
institutionalized collaboration with the PPWE as regards the implementation of the
Strategic Plan 2015-2018;
The US delegation also expressed its desire to start a partnership with ABAC to move
forward the WE-APEC Network Initiative;
The PPWE members were in agreement that there should be a conscious effort to
nominate women representatives to the ABAC. The US delegation suggested having
a list of women ABAC nominees prepared for when nominations come up. The US
delegation also shared that in the case for US representatives at ABAC, the White
House selects the US representatives; this highlights the commitment of Senior
Officials and private sector to the ABAC;
The Australia delegation shared that they have a commitment to have one woman
representative at ABAC but have, so far, not placed one in the council;
The ABAC representative clarified that the council does not meddle with the affairs
of the Members when it comes to an Economy’s representatives. The ABAC simply
flags to an Economy if there is a position that needs to be filled up; and
While it is important to have women ABAC members, it was also stressed that it is
equally important to have a gender-responsive members, whether male or female, at
the council.
AGREEMENT: Each economy should have at least one woman member (1/3) in the
ABAC. Fill out all slots because it impacts on the agenda and projects of ABAC.
A.2. PPWE Communications Plan
Following the discussion on PPWE engagement with ABAC, it was suggested that a
Communications Plan be developed that will indicate how PPWE engages with ABAC and
other working groups. The development of a Communications Plan is one of the targets in
the Strategic Plan.
A.3. Guide to Gender Criteria
As reported during the PPWE 2 meeting, fifty per cent of projects have gender criteria.
Projects that did not pass the gender criteria were returned and given recommendations for
improvement. However, it was noted that the current gender criteria are not too strict.
Nevertheless, it is a very significant development to have gender expert, Ms. Penelope
Howarth, in the APEC Secretariat who facilitates the assessment process.
AGREEMENT: It is imperative that all projects will pass the criteria, more so now that the
APEC Secretariat has a gender expert to review the projects.
A.4. Guidelines on mainstreaming gender in APEC
In the approved Strategic Plan, PPWE targeted the development of Guidelines on
Mainstreaming Gender in APEC by 2018.
The delegations agreed that having this set of Guidelines will help PPWE in
mainstreaming gender in the other working groups, especially in those with no clear
correlation between gender and their sector. While the Gender Criteria is useful, it is
not sustainable and not enough as it is only for projects;
It was suggested for each working group to be reminded of gender issues to be
addressed in their projects. The PNG delegation further commented that the working
groups should look into where the key pillars impacting women’s economic
empowerment fall in their work plans; and
Page 94 of 108
The following were suggestions on how to develop the Guidelines: (1) develop
guidelines on specific areas and not on general statements that can just be easily
ticked; (2) Indonesia suggested to monitor the implementation of the five key pillars
in relation to the Guidelines; (3) US suggested looking for an external consultant who
can coordinate the update of the Guideline; and 4) explore if this endeavour can fall
under Canada’s new project on a dedicated micro, small and medium enterprise
(MSME) sub-fund and policy support facility.
AGREEMENT: The following Economies agreed to work on the update of the Guidelines:
Australia, USA, Philippines, Indonesia, and Canada (though the latter was not present during
the MCM).
A.5. Strategies on mainstreaming gender in the APEC
The following were suggestions related to integrating the gender-perspective in across APEC:
Create a Task Force to make sure that gender perspective is integrated in other
working groups. US did not recommend the creation of a Task Force and, instead,
suggested educating other working groups by having one of the PPWE members
attend these working groups’ meetings. Australia suggested forming a Tiger Team,
wherein a member of another working group is temporarily made part of the PPWE
and vice versa;
PPWE to identify possible “gender allies” in the other working groups, and meet with
them to strategize how the gender perspective can be integrated in their respective
working groups. One successful case is the HWHE initiative wherein there were
champions from the Health Working Group and Human Resource Development
Working Group who pushed for the development of the Toolkit in their own working
groups. In the end, it fostered ownership of the project, including the necessary
follow-through and next steps;
Have gender experts in all the APEC fora to ensure that all working groups
understand what gender is;
Hold a policy dialogue where PPWE can get gender experts to talk about specific
issues based on the five key pillars impacting women’s economic empowerment;
Conduct training on integrating gender perspective with the Chairs of other working
groups;
Get champions among senior officials to espouse gender;
Have a member of a working group brought physically in PPWE and then let that
representative champion the gender issue in the working group later;
As part of PPWE’s monitoring and advocacy strategy, a PPWE member should
always be present during SCE meetings;
Indonesia suggested holding another joint ministerial meeting and enhancing projects
that were already started. The host economy can coordinate with the concerned
working group; and
Think of priorities by themes and have projects follow those themes. This will
encourage a programmatic approach instead of activity-focused.
A.6. Communication platform within PPWE
The Australia delegation suggested having an internal communication platform that
will facilitate easier communication exchanges between PPWE members. Australia
clarified that this platform is not about having a Dropbox account but having a
document management system that will keep track of the different versions of
documents that go back and forth between Economies;
Page 95 of 108
It was suggested to have a repository website for inter-sessional documents in the
APEC website;
The PNG delegation also commented that a communication platform where the
private sector can discuss their issues be also made available; and
The US delegation shared that the existing WE-APEC website is a good platform for
women entrepreneurs and ABAC members to express themselves.
AGREEMENTS: (1) Ms. Romy Tincopa of the APEC Secretariat to hold a meeting with the
APEC Communications group to discuss the creation of webpage for uploading of informal
documents/intercessional documents; (2) Economies to share speeches, IAPs, etc. on a
voluntary basis; (3) APEC website section on documents needs to be populated/updated; and
(4) Utilize and share the WE-APEC website.
A.7. Project funding (PNG-initiated agenda)
It was acknowledged that it is sometimes difficult to acquire funding for PPWE projects. One
strategy to address this is to implement projects through or with other sub-fora/working
groups that have more funds or more funding opportunities.
A.8. GREAT Women Platform
Philippine delegation shared with group that Malaysia is set to replicate the GREAT Women
Platform, and that it is also open to other APEC economies.
B. Plans for 2016 APEC WE by Peru
The 2016 APEC WE will be a 3-day event in Lima, Peru, in June 2016. It will follow
usual schedule: first day will be allotted for the PPWE meeting, 2nd
day for the
PPDWE, and 3rd
for the HLPD. The theme will be “Breaking Barriers to Economic
Integration of Women in the Global Market”; and
The Peru delegation clarified that they will only be able to host one PPWE meeting
next year. Thus, if another Economy is willing to host another PPWE meeting, then
the offer will be gladly accepted.
ACTION TO BE TAKEN: Share the Peru APEC WE 2016 PowerPoint presentation to
other Economies.
V. Closing Remarks
A. Closing Remarks by China delegation
China expressed her appreciation that the gender perspective has already been mainstreamed
in many of the works of APEC but noted that that there is more work to be done. She
encouraged more dialogues to reach PPWE’s goals and the use of internet to share
experiences of each economy.
B. Closing Remarks by PPWE Chair
The PPWE Chair summarized the agreements made during the MCM. They were the
following:
For Australia, US, Philippines, Indonesia, and Canada to update the Gender
Mainstreaming Guideline;
Explore the creation of Tiger Teams to infiltrate working groups and have gender
issues addressed in other working groups;
Ensure that PPWE Members are invited/present during SCE meetings;
Page 96 of 108
Ms. Romy Tincopa of the APEC Secretariat to conduct a discussion with the APEC
Communications group so that a dynamic webpage for documents is made;
Create an APEC WE (online) communication platform that will encourage public-
private sector dialogues;
Look into other working groups that have funds for funding to support PPWE
projects;
Increase female membership in the ABAC, and ensure that ABAC members, whether
male or female, are gender-responsive; and
Development of a communications plan (as per PPWE Strategic Plan) that will inform
how PPWE engages with ABAC and other working groups.
Page 97 of 108
Annex F: APEC Multi-Year Project: Seminar on Empowering
Women through ICT for Inclusive Growth
Synopsis
The opening speakers are in agreement in the importance of empowering women as catalyst
for social change and economic development. It is in alignment with these mindsets that the
speakers have thus presented several case studies of women entrepreneurs who designed
game-based learning applications, e-tools and programs, and research demographics of
women in areas like Chile, Australia, Philippines, Korea, Peru, and Taipei. The strategic
approaches respond to challenges posed by women in business to address issues about
isolation, of women working from home and not empowered about her capabilities and skills,
the opportunities for her to develop her skills and access capital funds to service and develop
her markets and learn new marketing initiatives, and bridging the digital divide between the
genders. The initial attempt to empower women through inspiring programs that addresses
cultural make-up and processes and how training programs can be designed and be user-
friendly, accessible, affordable, and interesting for women to actually use and apply to their
business.
MORNING SESSION
Opening Remarks
Hon. Joyce Yen Feng Minister without Portfolio, Chinese Taipei Welcomed 171 representatives from 12 economic spectrums with annual projects affirming
the consensus of the importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in
empowering women to address capacity building competencies, promote communication
channels in collaboration with public and private sectors and non-government organizations
(NGOs).
Hon. Nora K. Terrado Chair, APEC WE 2015 Fora Undersecretary, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Cited the 3rd year for APEC’s multi-year project on Innovation for Women and Economic
Development by advocating for women’s livelihood development and resilience with ICTs.
To enliven the proceedings they designed an interactive workshop program to generate more
participation and networking through shared experiences and inputs on strategic models.
Guests-of-Honor
Hon. Catherine M. Russell Head, United States Delegation Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues U.S. Department of State Started at the US Department two years ago and observed the inequality of women’s rights in
other countries. Shared what her country has done to bridge the gender gap through policies
on health care benefits, addressed climate control, and promoted women empowerment. She
wanted feedback mechanisms to maximize collaboration and advance the use of the Toolkit.
Page 98 of 108
Mr. Andrey Mukhanov Chair, APEC Telecommunications Working Group (APEC TEL) Adviser to the Minister, Ministry of Telecom and Mass Communication of the Russian Federation Started at the US Department two years ago and observed the inequality of women’s rights in
other countries. Shared what her country has done to bridge the gender gap through policies
on health care benefits, addressed climate control, and promoted women empowerment. She
wanted feedback mechanisms to maximize collaboration and advance the use of the Toolkit.
Keynote Speech
Ms. Aida Jean Manipon Country Program Manager, UN Women Philippines Noted UN’s Goal 5 where global leaders will sign gender equality by 2030 enhancing use of
ICT to promote empowerment, access to resources and financial services and other Goal
targets for resilient infrastructures, foster innovation, accelerate hunger mitigation programs,
global partnerships, etc. 2015 saw the 20th year of the UN World Conference of Women in
Beijing (BPFA: Beijing PlatForm for Action) promoting greater participation of women
especially in the use of ICT to bridge the digital divide and address issues of empowerment
thru education, gender sensitive legal environments, access to financial resources and
improve labor and employment conditions. Cited data: 2.7 billion are online and women
comprise only 40% including the labor force.
30-minute Session Break
PANEL SESSIONS
Session 1
“Innovation for Women and Economic Development”
and Toolkit and Game-Based Learning Application
Moderator:
Ms. Patricia May M. Abejo Director, Department of Trade and Industry, Philippines
Speakers:
Ms. Ching-Cheng Chang Research Fellow at Institute of Economics, Academia Sinica, Chinese Taipei
Discussed the objectives/Key Result Areas (KRAs) of APEC’s Multi-year Project (MYP)
2013-2016 that includes access to new ICT devices and value added services (VAS), to share
best practices on ICT innovations apps for women and identify key elements for successful
women-led businesses. The work plan includes 2 years of inventory, case studies and
newsletters, followed by a year of online learning, surveys, and APP design and another year
of game-based learning and Toolkit design targeted for 2016.
The first phase baseline survey findings on how ICT can empower women by creating an
environment to participate in community-based activities, create business and employment
opportunities for women, create business-enabling networks that address women’s needs.
Introduce innovative ICT solutions to solve issues of financial literacy and family consent,
provide e-commerce platform and cost effective package to assist micro businesses break
Page 99 of 108
market limitations, boost the confidence for entrepreneurship, and build networks to enhance
leadership qualities.
The second phase on online training addressed pre and post business concerns for monitoring
and guidance and collected data on personal background. It involves 20 participants, 20 hours
of online business tutoring over 100 course topics, examine the functions of e-learning
platform, explore participants’ expectation and satisfaction and study the interaction between
mentors and participants. The Phase 2 survey results reveal the preferred topics (human
resources management, financial literacy, marketing skill, access to market), behavioral
support and stable infrastructure service. The findings and recommendations reveal the
women’s unfamiliarity with utilizing ICT for market information, high level of ICT literacy
does not assure the ability to access market information or how to translate them to benefit
their business.
Recommendations include encouraging women specializing in ICT or women in ICT-related
businesses to design e-learning programs tailored for women’s needs and to help women
entrepreneurs overcome the challenges.
Ms. Hsiao-Mei Lin Co-Founder and CEO of HEX, Inc. / Thunder Sensing Inc., Chinese Taipei Started her business with her husband as partner. Working on the principle that gamification
engages people on an emotional level to achieve their goals they then developed fingertip
gaming app on entrepreneurship, global app downloads, “WE boss” (Women Economy). The
objective is to educate women to develop skills using game applications while addressing
limitations on time, cost and space. The fun and user-friendly application educate and train
women in startups in an interactive way allowing them to gain competence and learn to
SWOT (identify strengths, weakness, opportunities, threats), and provide translations into
different languages to close the communication gap between people from urban cities to
those from villages/provinces.
Question & Answer
1) What about idiom?
Response: Ms. Hsiao-Mei Lin offered options in the App that can integrate settings
for access to different languages/dialects.
2) There was a comment that availability and reliability of Wi-Fi connection and IP
concerns must be addressed to make this effective. It was mentioned that
infrastructure issues will be addressed in another session later.
Session 2
Successful Cases of Women’s Economic Empowerment by Economy Presentation
Moderator:
Ms. Ching-Cheng Chang Chinese Taipei
Page 100 of 108
Speakers:
Ms. Carol Hanlon CEO of Belmont BEC, Australia
Presented their experience in online training and development to empower women in
Australia thru BPW Business Incubator. Creating non-profit initiatives to assist women
entrepreneurs (25,000 were assisted and 10% in SMEs) they developed simple data gathering
requiring basic yes/no answers, monitored skills requirements and needs by asking “do they
need the skills?”, provided 9100 topics with free webinars, addressed demand and support of
SMEs, SWOT emotional attachments, financial feasibilities, activated sponsorships and
networking, personal mentoring, provides 24/7 online support. She shared actual participants
experience profile.
Ms. Yunkeum Chang Director of the Institute of Leadership and General Education at Sookmyung Women’s University
Presented ICT programs in the Republic of Korea and shared actual cases using the Gyeonggi
Women’s Development Center (GWDC) and Women’s Enterprise Supporting Center
(WESC) startup incubator. They developed programs for women as leaders and used ICT as
KRA. The Informatization Promotion Basic Law in 1995 initiated the emergence of Cyber
Korea 21, eKorea Vision 2006 and Broadband IT Korea Vision 2007 Converging. They
addressed the gender digital divide by providing internet classes for a million housewives in
2001 which doubled in 2003, ande-Business for women in 2004. Women’s education is one
of the greatest contributors to development. The percentage of women internet usage in
Korea vary from age levels from 99% for ages 40 below and decreased to 41% for seniors
(60 and up).
GWDC has managed 22 women entrepreneur annually since 1999, with 48 startups with
public academic partnerships. WESC has 14 branches in multiple cities operating 171 women
business incubators since 2007.
Ms. Olga Pizarro Stiepovic Professor of Del Desarrollo University, Chile Presented demographical data of women entrepreneurs in Chile: 25% women entrepreneurs
with 71% doing it for opportunity and 29% out of necessity. SWOT analysis include cultural
conditions where more women are educated than men but women lack the confidence to start
a business or afraid of failure. Women in Chile tend to prioritize their children and husbands
with the latest gadgets and settle with older gadgets for themselves or not have gadgets at all
which limits their digital connectivity. There is also a language barrier because most of them
do not know the English language. There are efforts to promote entrepreneurship by the state
and in the academe but needs sustainable support from personal mentoring. Actual cases of
successful women entrepreneurs were presented.
Ms. Chiqui Escareal-Go President, Mansmith& Fielders, Inc., Philippines
Study on an online training and mentoring program. Shared 5 actual cases of women
entrepreneurs although 1 backed out in the course of study. The criteria for their selection
include diversity, have no previous engagement with existing program organizers and do not
require them to be “internet savvy.” SWOT analysis include human to ICT infrastructure
factors (affected by internet speed, type of computer, time management) and human-to-
human concerns like need for personal mentoring and peer engagement. They found the
Page 101 of 108
course training helpful but had difficulty with language barrier affecting comprehensibility,
time factor affected viewing flexibility, while expectations ranged from improved business or
to build their business confidence, 75% satisfaction rating against 25% unsatisfied who will
not recommend this training to others.
Lunch Break
AFTERNOON SESSION
Presentation on the APEC Women’s Participation in the Digital Economy
Dr. Patrice Braun Adjunct Professor, Collaborative Research Network Federation University, Australia
Presented WEF 2015 Agenda on women as prime movers of inclusive growth. To address
this there is a need to enhance women-led SMEs competitiveness, strengthen women’s
presence in regional and global economy, target skills and capacity development approaches,
and consider the enabling environment that women operate within. He posits scenarios like
how does one keep up with the pace of technology and the connectivity of devices,
integration and globalization of and through ICT (telephony, technology roadmaps,
ecosystem support, etc.) and possible disruptions. Human-centered thinking should be
considered in all phases. Working IN the business is different from working ON the business.
Every ecosystem is unique, and women are only as good as their enabling environment.
Presentation on “Interaction of Women Friendly App”
Ms. Hannah Chou Co-Founder of Our City Love Social Enterprise, Chinese Taipei Presented survey App targeting People with Disability (PWD). 80% of PWDs surveyed were
women reliant on family (husband or children) to assist them in operating the app on gadgets.
Reported SWOT analysis using actual scenarios of PWDs’ concerns like locating PWD
friendly establishments, career opportunities for PWDs, etc. The use of ICT as a powerful
tool to assist PWDs navigate the real world maximized ICT’s potential and relevance to all
sectors of society. “It’s not people who are disabled; it’s the environment that is disabled.”
Presentation on the Project Toolkit / Overview of Breakout
Facilitators:
Ms. Rosario M. Gruet, Philippines
Dr. Ching-Cheng Chang, Chinese Taipei
Introduced the objectives and discussion rules, the topics, the moderators, the timetable, and
presentation module after. The four topics for discussion and the moderators are as follows:
1) Capacity Building – Dr. Patrice Braun (Australia)
2) Entrepreneurship – Dr. Olga Pizzaro Stiepovic (Chile)
3) Infrastructure – Dr. Yunkeum Chang (Republic of Korea)
4) Public-Private Partnership – Ms. Chiqui Go (Philippines)
Page 102 of 108
BREAKOUT SESSION & PRESENTATION
I. CAPACITY BUILDING Moderator:
Dr. Patrice Braun, Australia
The development and enhancement of skills and knowledge from the grassroots level to
marginalized groups, from training and workshops to enhance character build up and proper
structures to empower women not only in the macro economy but also from small home-
based initiatives, address language barrier and other communication concerns, provide
technical support and infrastructure will address business and financial literacy, provide
access to jobs or business ideas, peer teaching/counseling.
Members of this discussion group include representatives from Russia, Chile, Peru,
Philippines and Spain.
II. ENTREPRENEURSHIP Moderator:
Ms. Olga Pizarro Stiepovic, Chile
The major challenges affecting women entrepreneurs are cultural differences and practices,
economic status of their country and their family which affects financial viability, biased
gender roles and expectations, limitations to legal avenues and capital funds, support group to
build business confidence and share skills and knowledge, economic sanctions, and inability
to utilize ICT to source, build, access markets.
An enhanced program for sustainable entrepreneurship status for women through ICT must
have regional cooperation and shared vision to seek support and push their agenda from their
government to support women-led businesses, access to loans and simplified loan process,
provide baseline data and other data source, create a pilot program, develop ICT learning
tools and capabilities to access market and develop ideas.
Members of this group include representatives from Russia (Larisa Ivanisova), Chile (Maritza
Lafertte), Thailand (Dr. Monthip Spiratana), Philippines (Hazel Marizella Yap, Dr. Venus
Genson) and USA (Tong), Taipei and Papua New Guinea.
III. INFRASTRUCTURE Moderator:
Dr. Yunkeum Chang, Republic of Korea
The active presence of government support in activating its authority to make ICT accessible
and effective is crucial. This participation requires the appointment of an ICT Specialist who
can provide knowledge and vision in improving connectivity and activating robust
networking programs. For marginalized countries with limited funds for proper infrastructure
support, the support and assistance of regional groups like APEC may provide the proper
channels to activate and enhance connectivity weakness. The provisions of incentives for
sponsorships and donors and additional support from pooled private organizations and
institutions must also be tapped. There is also a clamor for active online support to push
infrastructure agenda and get government support and funding. Infrastructure support
includes up-to-date hardware devices, internet access even outside of the city, daycare
Page 103 of 108
centers, online learning programs with well-designed courses and system compatible
platform, affordable internet infrastructure and equitable access to ICT.
Members of this group include representatives from Australia (Carol), Indonesia (Indra),
Russia (Karina), New Zealand (Wendy) and the Philippines (Tina, Dina, Mitch) and Dr.
Chang from Korea.
IV. PUBLIC-PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP Moderator:
Ms. Chiqui Escareal-Go, Philippines
The dynamics of the support coming from PPPs in terms of scholarships, private
collaborations, government incentives, proper policy and implementation support,
economic/capital funding, and exchange program, women empowerment programs, can
enhance the proper network and cooperation in different countries and the regions. But the
crucial and integral part is how to be able to harness these partnerships. And how can
initiatives convey proper support channels and meet the needs and demands of women
especially in SMEs.
The recommendations presented were to network directly with government or political and
authority figures conversant and sympathetic to the cause of women to aggressively push the
agenda of crafting legislation, support effective language translation and technical support
and pass effective policies and proper implementations of laws that will allow easy access to
women-led initiatives in grants funding and organizational support. Another is to create a
portal for regional cooperation of women to seek assistance, redress and support.
Members of this discussion group include representatives from the USA (Marily Mondejar),
Korea (So Young Lee), Philippines (Luna Fojas, Milagros Lacson), Peru (Jessica Soto,
Lorena Sandoval), Chile (Mateo) and Taipei (Hannah Chou).
Page 104 of 108
Annex G: APEC Women’s Business and Smart Technology Seminar:
Including & Leveraging Smart Technology for Empowering APEC
Women Entrepreneurs
Summary Report
15 September 2015 | 02:00 PM – 06:00 PM
Summit HallsE and F, Philippine International Convention Center
Metro Manila, Philippines
Host: Asia Pacific Women’s Information Network Center (APWINC) of
Sookmyung Women’s University, Republic of Korea
Department of Trade and Industry, Philippines
Organizer: Global Women’s ICT Network (GWIN), Republic of Korea
TeamAsia, Philippines
Support: Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Republic of Korea
NS Home Shopping, Republic of Korea
SAMSUNG, Republic of Korea
Co-sponsors: Australia, Chinese Taipei, Viet Nam
Participants: Total 110 participants composed of APEC Delegates (12 economies), women
entrepreneurs, government officers and academic scholars
Objectives:
To promote women-owned businesses using smart technologies and to inform them of
current trends such as smart services (3D printing, big data, etc.) and sharing of best
practices and useful resources for launching start-ups.
To share experiences and business models of successful women businesses based on
smart technologies in APEC economies.
To formulate policies and develop strategies for leveraging smart technology. The
results will be reported to PPWE, WEF, or other related Fora, Policy Partnership on
Science, Technology and Innovation (PPSTI).
To create an APEC “in-house online accelerator support system for start-ups” by
partnering with regional entities that can then be leveraged by women entrepreneurs
when launching their start-ups.
< Session Highlights >
Opening and Welcome Remarks
Moderator: Ms. Maria Montserrat Hamlin, President of TeamAsia, PH
Opening Remarks: Dr. Yong Ja Kim, Vice President of GWIN, ROK
Welcome Remarks: Hon. Nora K. Terrado, CHAIR, APEC WE 2015 FORA, Undersecretary (Usec.),
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), PH
Congratulatory Remarks:
Page 105 of 108
Ms. Min Jai Lee, CHAIR of Korean Women Entrepreneurs Association, ROK
Ms. Myrna Tang-Yao, President of Business & Professional Women (BPW), PH
Ms. Joeng Ae Bang, Internal Auditor of Credit Guarantee & Investment Facility, Trust Fund of Asian
Development Bank, PH
Keynote Speech Session :
Highlights of the Current Issues and Trends for Women Entrepreneurs
Moderator: Dr. Paul Chao-Chia Huang, Managing Director, LoFTechnology, Inc. Chinese Taipei
Speakers:
Hon. Nora K. Terrado, CHAIR, APEC WE 2015 FORA, Usec, DTI, PH
Highlights that “As an enabler, Technology can help us steer our businesses to
success. It is vital to development. The two are closely tied. But we need to
properly manage technological advancement in a way that is inclusive, facilitates
our continuing integration in the global supply chain, and leads us to sustainable
growth and development”.
Dr. Kio Chung Kim President of GWIN, ROK, Dr. Myonghee Kim, Director of APWINC, ROK
Current Status of Women (emphasizing that women’s empowerment is also a smart
strategy for national development)
Introduction of 3 Disruptive Technologies that can bring empowerment for women:
Mobile, IoT (Internet of Things), 3D Printer
Support System for APEC Women Entrepreneurs (e.g., partnering with regional
accelerator programs)
Dr. Lorna Wright, Executive Director of Centre for Global Enterprise, Schulich School of Business,
York Univ., Canada
Smart technology: challenges and opportunities for women-owned business.
Challenges faced by businesses and companies due to the smart technology trends:
“7 billion connected mobile devices in the world today (more than one for every
human being). Consumers want more convenience and intelligence and less hassle
– want connection in real time”.
Advantages of smart technology for women-owned business (ex. Increase margins,
lower costs, easier to connect with customers, sup pliers, like-minded people).
What companies, women, government need to do in order to overcome the challenges
and take away opportunities in the digital world.
Session on Sharing of Best Practices
Moderator: Dr. Patrice Braun, Adjunct Professor, Collaborative Research Network,
Federation University Australia
Speakers:
Ms. So Young Lee, Chief Vice President of Korea Information-Technology Business
Women’s Association, ROK
Bio-3D-IT convergence for smart women’s business
Emphasis on the endless evolution of Smart ICT convergence: In the 1990s, IT
industry consisted of mass production and replication of ITs such as personal
computers and internet and during 2000, custom made production and IT
convergence so called smart and green has emerged. The next generation of IT
industry is collaboration production of IT Co-evolution.
Page 106 of 108
Introduction of Bio, ICT, 3D convergence for human life : 1) Bio 3D scanning and
printing for anti-aging/injury therapy; 2) Bio 3D ink for patient specific care
system; 3) Bio 3D printing for affected area on optimization
Dr. Donald Patrick Lim, Chief Digital Officer of ABSCBN, PH
Sharing his ideas on how women can make use of technology to generate more
income and be more inclusive in the digital world.
Sharing homegrown successes on YouTube channel like Kids Toys which trumps
ABS-CBN in viewership.
The Philippines is one of the top consumers of YouTube with a significant number of
Filipino YouTube personalities penetrating the video-sharing website including
‘Kid’s Toys’ channel that features two young girls unboxing toy after toy that their
father bought them. Their unboxing video of ‘Baby Alive’ has already reached a
whopping 90 million views, their most watched video so far.
Ms. Magdalah Racine-Silva, President & Chief Executive Officer, DMS International,
USA
Emphasizes that educational and experience diversity among women is a complement
to using technology to solve problems
Underlines that new 21st century leader traits are needed for global success.
Comparison between perceptions of women’s traits versus traits needed for success.
She quoted that “Tenacity/Resilience, Drive/Passion and Work Ethic” rank among
the Top 3 traits cited as most attributing to our success. Thus, mindset is what really
matters for success, with technology breaking down the unconscious bias that
women can’t be as good as men.
Session on Overcoming Challenges in Launching your Business
Moderator: Dr. Yunkeum Chang, Director of Institute of Leadership & General Education,
Sookmyung Women’s University, ROK
Speakers:
Ms. Sheila Lirio Marcelo, Founder, Chairwoman & CEO of Care.com, USA
Points out that some companies just focus on their business model and think of brand
as the pretty pictures, colors and taglines. Thus, underlines that your company’s
brand is your authentic relationship with your employees, clients and stakeholders.
In order to be a successful women entrepreneur she needs to surround herself with a
team that she shares values with, be careful of choosing an investor and think big
and then engineer the company for scale
Dr. Chonchanok Viravan, President, Pathanasomdoon Company Limited and former
President of Business Professional Women (BPW International), Thailand
To launch Start-up business, one can start with social media like Facebook because
social media is the quickest and most affordable way to create online presence of
your business. This can later help build content for future website. By doing so an
entrepreneur does not have to jump right into opening online shop and understand
the expense and risks involved in starting online businesses.
Ms. Teri Jayun Ham, Founder of H Network Consulting Group, Director of International
Development, GWIN, USA
Underlining the use of Start-up accelerators which offer discounted or free resources
to help entrepreneurs launch their businesses. Some of the services offered include:
mentorship, training and other educational components, and business support
(technical, HR, design, communications, marketing, call centers, etc).
Page 107 of 108
Call for collaborating APEC women entrepreneurs to launch the APEC Women
Entrepreneur Start-up Accelerator Program (AWESAP) pilot: 1) for start-up
accelerators who would be willing to become program partners and allow our pilot
participants to leverage their services and tools to launch their start-ups; 2) for
corporate/business partners who would be willing to train our pilot participants to
help give them the skills and development they need to be more effective and
competitive.
Results of the Seminar
The speakers covered a wide range of issues connected with women entrepreneurs and smart
technology, which participants found most informative and inspirational. Participants were
encouraged to comment on what they were learning throughout the session and upload these in real
time to the GWIN website (www.gwin.or.kr). These comments were organized around three
questions:
1. What are the opportunities using smart technologies?
2. What are the challenges using smart technologies?
3. What are your key takeaways from today’s event?
Opportunities
1. Crowdsourcing
2. Crowdfunding
3. Business having real time interaction with customers and suppliers.
4. Establishing linkages
5. The potential for 3D printing to allow anyone to develop innovative products inexpensively.
6. Have government invest in training start-ups so they can better access smart technology
connecting people.
Challenges
1. Lack of training and knowledge about smart technologies
2. Lack of information on what is available
3. Disconnect between what is needed and service delivery.
4. Technology is changing too rapidly. One can’t keep up.
5. Connectivity issues (e.g., speed, access, cost, stable connections)
6. Logistical problems in exporting, particularly on how to handle different regulatory issues.
7. Getting people to trust
8. Charge back risks
9. Women facing technology related violence.
10. Calculating ROI from use of social media.
Key take-away
1. Female traits of leadership are needed in the 21st century.
2. Biotech and 3 D printing are the most important technologies (Chile)
3. Need to promote a more entrepreneurial mindset in women.
4. In building a brand need to be authentic. Authenticity and passion will make business
sustainable.
5. Smart technologies are diverse and disruptive.
6. Smart technologies are great equalizers. You don’t need the huge capital investment required
in bricks and mortar business.
7. Trust and reputation are critical for business success.
8. You can make money from YouTube total views.
9. Technology is critically important in this era. The willingness of APWINC to extend their
hand in helping women entrepreneurs is appreciated.
Page 108 of 108
Recommendations
1. Develop an APEC/WEF Portal of Trade and Exchange
2. Develop an APEC accelerator program for women start-ups
3. Develop training programs to teach women avenues for generating income – e.g., how to use
free technology to make money (e.g., You Tube) or how to link to the “gig” economy to
monetize spare resources, such as a spare room or a car sitting idle most of the day (e.g.,
through Airbnb, Uber)