Supporting women’s proactive and effective participation in TPP

09/06/2016
Hanoi - The VWU in collaboration with USAID in Vietnam organized a workshop on “Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) – Opportunities and Challenges for Female Entrepreneurs and Workers in Vietnam” on April 26.

The workshop was attended by nearly 120 participants from the central and provincial Women’s Unions, women entrepreneurs’ associations and clubs, women enterprises, ministries and agencies.

In her opening speech, VWU President Nguyen Thi Thu Ha affirmed the VWU’s constant support to female entrepreneurs and labourers through policy advocacy, start-up and business management training, credit provision, market access, vocational training, job creation, and women entrepreneurs networking.

Currently, women-owned enterprises accounts for o­nly 25%. Most of them are micro and small enterprises, for which supporting policies are limited. Besides, women are faced with more difficulties than men in actualizing business ideas and in accessing and controlling resources due to gender characteristics. In this context, TPP presents not o­nly opportunities but also considerable challenges to Vietnamese women.

Ms. Susan Sutton, Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States emphasized the opportunities TPP might bring about for women and expected that the workshop would help women entrepreneurs and Women’s Union representatives understand better about TPP and develop strategies to fully benefit from it.

According to the workshop’s speakers, there are many challenges for Vietnamese women in TPP context including tougher competitiveness and stricter business rules.Women,however, have better employment opportunities in some sub-sectors such as garment and textile. And with persistence, creativeness, the ability to connect people, and the wiliingness to take risk, women entrepreneurs will be likely to be able to seize opportunities and benefit from TPP.

The speakers also emphasized the VWU’s role in providing vocational training for local women and supporting women entrepreneurs networking.

After the o­ne-day workshop, the participants have gained basic information about TPP, explored the opportunities and challenges that TPP might bring about, particularly in the sectors with women’s active participation, i.e.services, light industry and agriculture, and the preparation that female entrepreneurs should make in the TPP process. After group discussion, the participants came up with concrete recommendations to the Government, the VWU, women entrepreneurs associations and other stakeholders o­n the measures to promote women’s proactive and effective participation in TPP process.

On the sideline of the workshop, there was a display of female entrepreneurs’ products. Female entrepreneurs at the workshop also enjoyed networking and exchanging their business experience.

 

International Relations Department – VWU

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