Periquet keynotes Shanghai summit on women's role in economic recovery

SHANGHAI – Four outstanding women entrepreneurs delivered speeches on women leaders’ role in boosting economic recovery in post-crisis era and the importance of the Chinese market to world businesses at the Shanghai Expo.

Among the four outstanding women entrepreneurs was multi-awarded advocate on entrepreneurship Anna Marie Periquet who was selected as the Asian keynote speaker during the Women Leaders in Economy: Post-Crisis Era Summit. The other three distinguished entrepreneurs were from New Zealand, South Africa, and Germany.

Periquet is currently the chairman of the Young Entrepreneurs Group of Asia Pacific and the Youth in Business – Philippines.

Periquet delivered her speech on The Philippine Experience in Entrepreneurship: Working Hand-in-Hand in Advancing Philippine and Chinese Economies at the World Trade Center Association Pavilion which was attended by more than 400 elite women from the region. The forum is part of the activities to commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Fourth World Conference on Women which was held in Beijing.

Periquet stressed the importance of country members in the Asia-Pacific region to develop an agenda that acknowledges the justification for public intervention for reasons of overcoming economic instability, disadvantages based on ethnicity, imbalances between rural and urban development, and of course, gender inequity.

She said that while priority accorded to individual objectives of an SME agenda varies between economies, specific areas must be identified where public intervention and the development of stronger policies for entrepreneurship promotion maybe particularly useful.

Further, a series of recommendations and actions have been noted for four areas, namely: developing human capital, access to funding, removing barriers to new business creation, and innovation and technology.

“The new economy now calls for innovative ideas, individual initiatives, rather than organizational discipline, adjustability and greater speed in taking decisions, which I must say is what entrepreneurship is all about,” Periquet stated.

On the topic of the role of win boosting economy recovery in post-crisis era, Periquet said the changing role of women shows that over the last two decades, there has been a steady upward trend in the participation of women in economic activities in developing countries. Despite the problem of serious under-enumeration of women’s involvement in economic activities in a sex segregated society as ours, the potential of women’s economic contribution is now well recognized.

Women have achieved good prospects in industry, especially the small and cottage and micro home-based ones. Their present involvement in manufacturing and in the recent trends of their involvement in information and technology activities in growing numbers is likely to continue. Women have emerged as exporters and their control of export-oriented industries, are promising areas for enhanced female participation and employment. Incentives could stimulate enterprises to develop female entrepreneurial skills and income-generating activities. Women’s growing involvement in the construction of civil works gives evidence to their potential regarding market growth opportunities and should be encouraged.

Periquet said that “to stimulate female entrepreneurship and create further employment opportunities, training programs for relevant issues, need to be provided to women currently in business. Where women have access to market information and display of products they can increase their business acumen, especially with respect to demand for a wide-range of products they might choose to produce.”

Leaders who attended the forum included Chen Zhili, vice chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress and president of the All-China Women’s Federation, Song Xiuyan, party secretary and vice president of the All-China Women’s Federation, and Zhong Yanqun, full time deputy director of the World Expo 2010 Shanghai Executive Committee.