Roundtable on "Women in Trade" was held

Roundtable on "Women in Trade" was held

Permanent Mission of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and Astana International Financial Centre organized an online event on Women in Trade on 1 March, 2023.

The event was attended by the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Mr. Kairat Umarov, Executive Director of ITC, Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade of US, Chairman of the Executive Board of JSC "AIFC Authority" Mr. Yernur Rysmagambetov, representatives of EBRD, World Economic Forum and etc. Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the World Trade Organization and international economic organizations Ms. Zhanar Aitzhan was a moderator of the session.

Participants of the session shared their views about how women fit into the global economy and trade, and also discussed the opportunities that are open to women in Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

In her opening speech, the Permanent Representative of the Republic of Kazakhstan to the WTO noted that the session was aimed at studying the role of women in the global economy and trade, as well as international initiatives, expanding their economic rights and opportunities for women. The Permanent Representative also noted that the commitment to women’s economic empowerment and to WTO initiatives that provide equal opportunities and rights for women was highlighted in the outcome declaration of the 12th Ministerial Conference of the WTO that was successfully chaired by Kazakhstan last June.

ITC, the joint organization of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), promotes trade and global business. Women's inclusion in trade is one of the pillars of ITC's Ready4Trade Central Asia project. Ms. Pamela Coke-Hamilton in her keynote address noted that initiatives like the “Women’s Economic Empowerment, Education, and Entrepreneurship” hosted by the Astana International Financial Centre, are precisely the sort of initiatives that can transform the economic horizons of women in international trade.

In his address First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs K. Umarov noted that last year during the roundtable in U.S. – Kazakhstan format on Women’s Economic Empowerment the plans for the launch of the U.S. State Department’s Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) were announced. To date, there is a class of 100 women graduate from this program in Astana. K. Umarov shared his hope that as fresh graduates of the program continue their journey, they will be able to take advantage of all the opportunities that the programs that are being discussed today have to offer.  

The U.S. Deputy Under Secretary for International Trade Ms. Diane Farrell told the participants about the “Empower Her” initiative, which was launched in May 2022 by the office in Eurasia. This initiative includes a network to promote and empower women in international trade by increasing awareness among female entrepreneurs of business opportunities abroad, improving tools and services for women entrepreneurs and urging companies to diversify and support women-owned businesses. Since the launch 34 European and Eurasian chains and close to 90 U.S. companies operating in the region have signed a declaration of support for women's economic empowerment.

In her remarks Ms. Michelle Czarniak, Deputy Chief of Staff of the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) highlighted that DFC is the U.S. Government’s development finance institution. With help of many investments DFS is working to advance gender equity and financial inclusion, including supporting women’s economic participation and women entrepreneurs.

Managing Director, Central Asia for ЕBRD Ms. Zsuzsanna Hargitai, noted that Kazakhstan was the first country in Central Asia, where EBRD launched its Women in Business programme, under which over 100$ million were channelled to support women entrepreneurship to date.

In conclusion, the CEO of AIFC Authority Mr. Yernur Rysmagambetov highlighted the importance of such dialogue platforms to advance new partnerships.