Thua Thien-Hue (VNA) – Vice President Dang ThiNgoc Thinh has voiced her hope that with joint efforts, one day, there won’t beany barriers and bias against women, and female leaders in businesses andeconomic organisations will make up 50 percent and even higher of the total number.

She made the remark while delivering a keynote speech at the2017 APEC Public-Private Dialogue on Women and the Economy, entitled “Women Entrepreneurs Forum: She Means Business”,in Hue city, the central province of Thua Thien-Hue, on September 28.

[Vietnam’s traditional culture introduced to APEC guests]

In Vietnam, women account for 48 percent of the workforceand play a very important role in the economy, she noted, citing the WorldEconomic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2016 as showing that the SoutheastAsian nation ranked 65th among 144 countries in terms of gender gapand 33rd in terms of women’s economic participation and opportunity.

The rate of women serving as business directors or owners inVietnam is estimated at 25 percent, and enterprises run by them play anincreasingly important role in the local economy.

According to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam, about1.2 million people of working age were unemployed in 2016, accounting for some2.3 percent of the workforce.  Theunemployment rate among women was higher than among men.

Vice President Thinh called on all people in the society,both men and women and in both the public and private sectors, to gain fullunderstanding of women’s capacity and role. They need to support women tocontribute to the national economy, the country and the whole society.

Each economy should build and perfect their legal system ongender equality so as to create a legal foundation and agencies forimplementing women empowerment measures. On that basis, businesses and economicorganisations can design strategies and support policies to encourage women’sengagement in economic, financial and social spheres, she said.

She also underscored that only women themselves can decidewhat they need to do to meet growing economic demand amid the changing world.“Women must always be aware of, accept and dare to overcome difficulties andchallenges to move forwards.”

In her address, LakshmiPuri, UN Assistant Secretary-General and Deputy Executive Director of UN-Women,urged the APEC member economies to do more to empower women and girls inevery way so that they realise their own potential, and the APEC membereconomies in turn should take full advantage of women power and the vastreservoir of capabilities they represent.

“Women’s economic empowerment is the right and smartinvestment and also an indispensable one,” she stressed, noting that it is atthe heart of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which recognises thatwomen’s full and equal participation in the economy as a vital step towardachieving sustainable development.

APEC member economies individually and as a grand trade,investment, business and economic cooperation partnership must and is poised tocontribute vitally to a Planet 50-50 by 2030 and this is the determination thisforum should demonstrate and inspire.

She quoted Vietnam’s late President Ho Chi Minh as saying that: “With their heartfelt efforts, our women – bothyoung and old – have built and woven the country of Vietnam to make it evenmore beautiful”.

Lakshmi Puri added:“Women bring not only heartfeltefforts and poetic beauty for nation building but amazing productive capacityand talent for remarkable results for economic prosperity of countries, ofregions and the world. And they can do even greater when empowered and enabled!”

During the APEC public-private dialogue, participantsdiscussed women’s economic, financial and social inclusion, women entrepreneursin a changing global market, promotion of women’s entrepreneurship in thedigital age, and building of a vision for women’s economic empowerment forAsia-Pacific and beyond.

The event was also attended by theWorld Bank's Vice President for the East Asia and Pacific Region Victoria Kwakwa,Chairman of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Vu Tien Loc, and about600 delegates from APEC economies.

The APECpublic-private dialogue was part of the ongoing2017 APEC Women and the Economy Forum, themed “Enhancing women’s economicinclusion and empowerment in the changing world”, in Hue city. It was part of aseries of activities throughout the APEC Year 2017 in Vietnam.

Established in 1989, the 21-economyAPEC’s primary goal is to support sustainable economic growth andprosperity in the Asia-Pacific region.-VNA