Taiwan leads seminar at APEC women’s economic forum

2015/09/17

The first-ever seminar organized by Taiwan on capacity building for women took place Sept. 16 during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Women and the Economy 2015 Fora in the Philippines.

Themed Empowering Women through Information Communications Technology for Inclusive Growth, the one-day event underscores Taiwan’s commitment to helping promote gender-balanced economic development throughout Asia-Pacific.

The seminar is part of the Innovation for Women and Economic Development project implemented by Taiwan in collaboration with Australia, Chile, South Korea and the Philippine since May 2013.

Minister without Portfolio Joyce Yen Feng said during her opening remarks that Taiwan initiated the multiyear project to address the huge digital gender gap in the APEC area and related issues.

“The flourishing development of ICT and other innovations has made up for insufficiencies in Internet infrastructure and location discrepancies, thereby broadening marketing pathways for women-owned microbusinesses and small and medium enterprises.

“It is important that women be encouraged to use ICT tools to build up digital capabilities, establish business networks and form corporate alliances.”

During the event, business representatives and experts conducted panel discussions on women-friendly ICT applications, identified key elements for successful replication and promotion of communication channels, and laid the foundation for ongoing collaboration between the public, private and nongovernmental organization sectors.

Other activities included presentation of the project’s second-year research results and exchange of views on the next steps.

Participants also shared best practices and proposed policy recommendations as references for APEC members, urging leaders and ministers to assign greater importance to related issues as a way to boost regional development.

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=236698&ctNode=2194&mp=9)