Irene Natividad, the president of the Global Summit of Women (GSW) believed that globalization brings women both benefits and challenges.
In an exclusive interview with Xinhua ahead of the opening of the GSW, which kicked off here on Thursday afternoon, Natividad said Internet technology gives women freedom and information.
Globalization has created markets for women to expand their businesses and see possibilities of growing their businesses beyond their respective countries, she said.
Internet gives women a tool to cross border to do trade without going to another country. However, trafficking of women is one of the "horrible" effects of globalization.
When asked what women could learn through participating in the GSW event, Natividad said she hoped that women can be inspired through participating in the GSW.
For example, she said, a German woman coming to the summit wrote in the evaluation form after a summit that "I left with wings on my back."
"I know that means you feel you can do anything," she added.
Woman participants can also learn practical things, she said. "We have sessions for women entrepreneur, leadership development, micro-finance development. It is like recipes for success."
A woman from India started selling things from suitcase in the bathroom in an earlier summit. Now she has a partnership in Japan, and another in Iceland, said Natividad.
As to why this year's summit focuses on the theme of women and Asia, she said: "We will be showcasing Vietnamese women throughout the summit so people could get to see the expertise that lies in this country. Asia is driving the 21st century global economy."
Meanwhile, Natividad admitted that there is no magic solution to gender equality, saying that there is a limited sense in every country of what a woman is capable of.
The summit never promises to solve anything. It promises to be a forum of solutions that have been provided by some women through legislation, policy, actual business practices, cooperate initiative, she said.
"What we can do is to accelerate some of those solutions by sharing with each other," she added.
"It's amazing to me that women have been able to achieve despite the problems that they face. I'm very proud of women and what they can do," she noted.
"Even there are no facilities or benefits to help them balance work and family, they figured it out," she said.
For example, she said, in the Philippines, the majority of overseas workforce that brings money home are women. They are supporting children, the whole family.
"This is why improving a woman's economic opportunity is so key, because she brings back money to her family more than man do," Natividad said.
There is a consensus that improving women's educational and economic status is an integral part of sustainable development, according to the summit president.
"No economy in the world can flourish if women are not given economic opportunities," she stressed.
She noted that women have entered the workforce in ever larger numbers and the number of entrepreneurships grows. Unfortunately, she said there has not been a significant increase in the percentage of women holding political leadership roles.
"The economic growth of women is reflected in China," she said," Chinese women are working, starting businesses, leading the economy."
There are 345, 000 millionaires in China, and one-third of them are women, she said, citing the Fortune magazine. "Based on the huge population, that's a huge number," she noted.
"In China, I see an emerging women middle-class," she said.
On the obstacles women face during their development, Natividad said women lack access to funding to enterprises. They have to find a balance between work and family and they still have to deal with a structure not used to women being a leader.
The important thing for women is to have optimism. "You can't succeed without optimism," she stressed.
"There are still so few women who lead companies, countries, ministries, so few women have acquired leadership," she said.
"We still need the summit. I want to see the day we don't need it anymore," Natividad said.
The 18th Global Summit of Women (GSW), or informally called the "Davos for Women", opened Thursday afternoon in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, with the attendance of over 900 participants from about 70 countries and regions.
Themed "Women and Asia- Driving the Global Economy", the summit offers a window into the dynamic Asia-Pacific economies now leading the 21st century global marketplace, and insight into the women driving business growth in the region as consumers and business leaders.
Source:Xinhua
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