Women power harnessed for economic development

SAN FRANCISCO – The High Level Policy Dialogue (HLPD) of the APEC Economies held during the Women and Economy Summit in this California city arrived at a consensus to suggest to the APEC Ministers meeting in November what will now be called The San Francisco Declaration.

The consultation dialogue was chaired by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and attended by senior officials and private sector representatives of the 21 APEC Economies.

The San Francisco Declaration states that “in 2011 and beyond, APEC economies will take concrete actions to realize the full potential of women, integrate them more fully into APEC economies, harness their talents, remove barriers that restrict women’s full economic participation, and maximize their contributions towards economic growth.” The four areas covered by the Declaration include: Access to Capital, Access to Markets, Capacity and Skills Building, and Women’s Leadership.

The Philippine panel was represented by Undersecretary Merly Cruz of the Department of Trade and Industry (SME Concerns) and Pacita Juan, president of the Women’s Business Council of the Philippines, a non-profit organization advocating policy changes for empowerment of women through business.

In her speech at the Women and Economy Summit which ran from Sept 13-16, Secretary Clinton shared the good news that Walmart will support the declaration by doubling its purchases from women to $20 billion and that it will invest $100 million in empowering women. Other economies are encouraged to follow suit with big and bold ideas such as Coca Cola’s effort to help 5 million women by 2020 and Goldman Sachs’ 10000 Women program.

Women control two-thirds of the world’s spending and will reach about $15 trillion in value by 2014. To empower women, therefore, is to unleash this great economic potential that everyone’s economies can benefit from.

The San Francisco Declaration ends with this statement: “Beyond 2011 future APEC host economies are encouraged to host additional high-level sessions to discuss new growth strategies that harness women’s talents, innovation and leadership.”