Women Contribute More to Global Economy

Ms. Tran Thi Thuy, Vice Chairwoman of VCCI and Chief of Organisation Board for the Global Summit of Women has an interview with reporter Thanh Yen of Vietnam Business Forum on opportunities for Vietnamese women in the global economy.

The Global Summit of Women is an international conference aimed at connecting businesswomen, female specialists and leaders throughout the world.

After 18 years, the Global Summit of Women has become a reputable international conference and has served as a bridge to link and gather socially influential women to solve business and gender equality issues in the global economy.

The summit also established and expanded the global businesswomen network, constructed database on the proportion of female leaders in corporations in the past 10 years in all continents, summarised and exchanged experience and practices in business administration, and pointed out global, regional and national threats to women. The event is also a chance for global women to meet and seek business partners, share experience and strategies for success and honour women with outstanding contributions to their country’s development.

Vietnam now has political stability, a dynamic economy and is an interesting investment destination in Asia. The selection of Vietnam to host the Global Summit of Women reflects the appreciation of the Summit Organisation Board for Vietnam.

This is a chance for Vietnamese businesswomen to approach, exchange information, experience and seek partnership with nearly 1,000 delegates from more than 100 countries in the world.

The subject of this year’s summit is “Women and Asia: Driving the Global Economy.” Main topics include:

In the framework of the summit, Vietnam will host important events such as “Doing Business in Vietnam” forum, welcome party, exchange programmes and communication activities to popularise the land, people and culture of Vietnam and introduce investment opportunities in the country.

Especially, the “Doing Business in Vietnam” forum is accompanied by the very interesting and practical session, “Post-WTO Vietnam - Attractive investment opportunities.”

Businesswomen account for 25 per cent of business leaders. The ratio may be 30-40 per cent in the household economic sector. Women-led companies account for 30 per cent of market capitalisation of the Vietnamese stock market. We are proud of our businesswomen. At present, women are actively taking part in social and economic development activities. Women are leading in many fields such as garment, textile, handicraft and processing industries. Many women have made resounding successes in fields that men usually dominate, like banking, transportation, electric and electronic equipment production. Businesswomen always raise their responsibility, comply with all policies of the State and keep reliable business partners and colleagues. Businesswomen always create favourable conditions for female employees to work well and fulfil their family duties.

Unlike businessmen, businesswomen care more about their family. Thus, their efforts are treasured.

Asia has been the most dynamic economic region in the world in the 21^st century. The goal of this summit is to continue focusing on economic development for women to approach Asia-Pacific markets.

The US credit crisis has gradually spread to other economies and the Asia-Pacific is no exception. However, this economic region has strong and effective measures to control inflation and maintain growth. This creates trust in the international community. The efforts of the businesswoman community are significant.

In the eyes of the international community, Vietnam is emerging as a new tiger in Asia. The international businesswoman community wants to come to Vietnam to see the development and integration of the Vietnamese economy. On the other hand, a third of leaders of top Vietnamese corporations are women and this shows that women are playing a greater role in the economic, political and social life of the country. Currently, 25.76 per cent of National Assembly members are women, one of world’s highest ratios. Now, Vietnam has one female vice state president, seven female ministers and 10 female deputy ministers. Females account for 36.2 per cent of university graduates, 34 per cent of masters and 25.7 per cent of doctors. These are clear proofs of the good environment for the development of women.

After joining the WTO, Vietnamese women play a greater role and make more contribution to the global economy. They put forth many important initiatives regarding gender equality and business opportunity creation for women at regional and international forums.

At present, apart from giant economies like the US and Europe, Asia-Pacific economies are growing rapidly. In this context, the experience and success of Vietnamese women are significant contributions to the general success of the global businesswoman community.