The award, APEC’ first contest for women entrepreneurs, is held on the margins of the ongoing 2017 APEC Women and the Economy Forum in Hue city, Vietnam’s Central province of Thua Thien-Hue.
Excellent businesswomen in the Asia-Pacific region to be honored with the second APEC Business Efficiency and Success Target (BEST) Award on September 27
Opening the contest on September 27 morning, Natalia Strigunova, Deputy Director of the Department of Asia, Africa and Latin America of Russia’s Ministry of Economic Development, said: “Women entrepreneurship is one of the most efficient engines of economic growth. Given volatility of the global economic and financial architecture, APEC’s main goal as well as the goal of every economy is to create the most favorable environment and give our women all necessary tools and skills to start their business.”
She noted only 6 percent of the chief executive officers (CEO) of the world’s largest corporations are women, and the 30 percent of women-owned businesses are mostly small- and medium-sized enterprises.
However, there has been some progress, the official said, adding that in the 500 Fortunes Companies 2017, the number of women holding the CEO position was up by 11.
The main idea of the APEC BEST Award, initiated by Russia, is spreading the best practices of women-owned companies among the APEC economies and encouraging business ladies to apply promising business models based on domestic success stories, Strigunova added.
This year’s contest attracted 12 businesswomen from 12 APEC member economies. They will have 10 minutes to present their firms’ vision, customers, finance and personnel issues and later answer questions raised by the jury.
Awards will be presented in the categories of APEC BEST Award, Highest Growth Potential, Most Innovative Business Model, International Attractiveness, Best Social Impact, Best “Green” Project, and Special Prize.
Three Vietnamese contestants are To Thi Phuong Thao – General Director of package producer VBOX Luxury Joint Stock Company, Hoang Minh Nhat – founder of the Minh Nhat bread chain, and Nguyen Thi My Lien – General Director of the Chau Thong Co., Ltd.
The 2017 APEC BEST Award is co-sponsored by Vietnam, Japan, Chile, Chinese Taipei and China.
Established in 1989, APEC comprises 21 economies, including Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, China, Hong Kong (China), Indonesia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, the Philippines, Russia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, the US, and Vietnam.
They account for 39 percent of the world population, 57 percent of the world GDP and 47 percent of the global trade, according to statistics in 2014.
Source: VNA