ELIMINATE BARRIERS TO WOMEN'S FULL PARTICIPATION IN GLOBAL ECONOMY

From Mikhail Raj Abdullah

LIMA (Peru), Nov 21 (Bernama) -- Gender discrimination is costing
Asia-Pacific economies US$80 billion annually because women are excluded from
economic opportunities to participate in the workforce and in business.

Alarmed with such a state of affairs, ministers of the Asia-Pacific
Economic
Cooperation (Apec) Forum have called for the removal of barriers to women's
full participation in the global economy and society.

Wrapping up their two-day meeting ahead of their leaders' summit this
weekend, they scorned at marginalisation of women and called for more members of
the fair sex to be involved in Apec's decision-making process.

"We also reaffirm our commitment to the goal of gender integration into
the Apec process," they said in a joint statement issued here Thursday.

Luis Tsuboyama, Director of Gender at the Apec Secretariat, said during
a presentation in May in Peru that "not investing in women limits the economic
growth opportunities and slows down the progress in poverty
alleviation."

She suggested that women should embrace the digital economy and know the
Internet not only from an user point of view but also as a marketeer whereby
they can make money by just selling someone else's merchandise via the web.
-- BERNAMA