Recommendation of
The 10th Women Leaders Network Meeting
Daegu, Korea / 24-27 August 2005
WLN
WLN is a public-private network of women of all sectors representing academia, civil society, business and government of the APEC economies that plays an important role by contributing women leaders’ perspectives and expertise to the APEC region.
- Commend WLN’s efforts to establish an independently funded Secretariat as it enters into its second decade;
- Acknowledge the enormous contributions WLN has made to the increased awareness of social and economic importance of women and to the development and implementation of policies integrated with gender perspectives within the APEC region;
- Continue to ensure the inclusion of sex-disaggregated data and gender based analysis in the development and evaluation of APEC projects;
In honor of the UN’s designation of 2005 as the Year of Microcredit, we commend APEC Leaders and Ministers for their continuing support of micro enterprise issues and projects. We recommend that APEC Leaders and Ministers
- Recognize the role of Microcredit in promoting and advancing women’s micro enterprises, and the importance of developing and sharing effective Microcredit policies and best practices among APEC members by:
- Endorsing pioneering research on micro enterprises in the informal sector using sex-disaggregated data
- Facilitating and sharing best practices and experiences in the micro enterprise sector between developed and developing APEC economies.
- Seek the most workable ways to institutionalize Microcredit through active discussions among APEC members by
- Encouraging financial institutions to serve women micro entrepreneurs, through NGOs or other providers;
- Promoting ideas among APEC economies that will incentivize the financial sector to serve impoverished communities;
- Supporting the establishment of Microcredit guarantee programs to encourage micro finance institutions and other providers to serve women who do not have collateral;
- Maintaining the distinction between consumer finance and micro enterprise finance in policy formulation and implementation;
In recognition of the importance of the next generation of women entrepreneurs to the co-prosperity of the APEC region, we recommend that member economies
- Promote and provide incentives for woman business incubation centers;
- Allocate resources to implement best practices in supporting women’s enterprise development and continue ongoing monitoring of its progress;
- Support the building of institutions or special organizations dedicated to prospective e-Business training for women and household businesses;
- Provide incentives for venture capital for women’s startup enterprises;
In recognition of the Bogor Goals of free trade within the region in 2010 and 2020, we recommend that economies
- Make resources available to implement and advance best practices regarding policies and programs to promote and encourage the development of women’s business activities within the APEC region;
- Develop and provide trade promotion and training programs for women (rural, young and isolated);
Prior to the WLN meeting, Asia Pacific Women’s Information Network Center (APWINC) held an APEC forum on the Digital Economy for Women and, regarding women’s e-Business for APEC economies, recommended that:
- APEC increase the level of support for programs and policies that address women’s
- access to ICT infrastructure and training, and
- And encourage economies to provide incentives for the creation of e-Biz centers.
