APEC Gender Focal Point Network Meeting - Mrs Hajin Chang

Good Morning Distinguished Delegates,
Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to welcome you to the 3rd meeting of the APEC Gender Focal Point Network (GFPN) and would like to thank all of you for being here today. Among many others, I would like to extend a special welcome to Maria De La Luz Silva, Former 2004 GFPN Chair.

I would also like to express my sincere appreciation to Dr. Soon-Young Jung Chair of the 2005 GFPN Secretariat and her team for organizing this important event.

APEC's goals are promoting sustainable economic growth, developing and strengthening multilateral trading systems and increasing interdependence and prosperity among member economies. Where are women in this? They are everywhere and fundamental to the achievement of these goals. APEC leaders acknowledge the significant economic contribution of women in our region. However, they are also aware of the need to further promote and facilitate greater participation of women.

This where the value of the Gender Focal Point Network is realized for it?s main role to act a coordinating mechanism and provide sustainable and effective mechanisms to integrate gender considerations in APEC.

As we are all aware, women-owned or operated micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are leading contributors to economic growth in the Asia-Pacific. Yet, due to socio-cultural perceptions, small women-owned business continue to face difficulties in over-coming obstacles, including gender-specific constraints which prevent women from business development and maximizing their contribution to the development of APEC economies.

I would like to commend APEC Leaders and Ministers on their substantial investment made to enable the integration of gender in APEC. APEC Leaders and Ministers have recognized the important contribution of women, particularly within SMEs and have also recognized that women workers and women in business are often less able to take advantage of the economic opportunities and have called for measures to accelerate the progress of integrating women into the mainstream of APEC processes and activities.

As a leading economy in information communication technology (ICT) development, the government of Korea considers ICT, one of the fastest growing fields in the world economy today, to be a powerful vehicle not only to generate economic growth, create jobs and employability but to empower women and increase women's participation in economic activity in the Asia-Pacific.

The Government, as a part of the national agenda and to bridge the gender digital divide, has made efforts to support and promote female access and participation in the ICT industry by investing in various ICT capacity building initiatives, regarding the potential of women to be a major supplier in the digital workforce.

Thus, to further extend the frontiers for APEC women-owned businesses in the today's knowledge and digital economy, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family (MOGEF) has hosted the three year old initiative, Training for Women's IT Capacity Building in APEC Members, with the aim of developing the capacity of APEC women in IT (Information Technology) and increasing their contribution to the social and economic growth of the region.

Through this initiative, MOGEF and the Korea Productivity Center have made a significant contribution towards the overall empowerment of APEC women by providing them with the opportunity to acquire the necessary skills and knowledge to competitively respond to economic opportunities and challenges.

However, despite real advances in recent decades, much remains to be done to increase women's participation and representation in APEC. Korea proposes the establishment of a gender integration center to provide gender training, including gender analysis training to strengthen gender integration.

As a national machinery established to advance women's rights and achieve a gender-equal society, MOGEF will continue to support APEC through the work of GFPN and their efforts to advance economic interests for women in the Asia-Pacific region.

This is the third meeting of the GFPN. During this time, I encourage GFPN Members to take this opportunity to take stock of what has been accomplished over the last years to integrate gender in APEC processes and activities and to plan strategically for the future. The work of this meeting will form the basis for future successful meetings and set the agenda for the following host economies to the GFPN, Viet Nam and Australia.

I hope this meeting provides a venue for participants to share experiences, collaborate and work to create an environment conducive to empowering women in our region. I wish you all a fruitful participation.