September 23, 2015

A new website will give female entrepreneurs throughout the Asia Pacific region ready access to information, networks, and potential markets. The Women’s Entrepreneurship in APEC initiative, or WE-APEC, last week officially introduced the website, which offers a searchable directory of more than 600 service providers that support female entrepreneurs in the 21 APEC economies; summaries of the status of entrepreneurship and entrepreneurship services in each of the economies; and a means for entrepreneurs, business networks, companies, and governments to connect to each other.

WE-APEC will also facilitate connections between entrepreneurs and potential domestic and international markets. Women entrepreneurs have asked how they can expand their business and connect with other entrepreneurs in the region, especially when they have a limited amount of time and finding the right information can be difficult, the U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues, Catherine Russell, said September 17 during the APEC Women and the Economy Forum held in Manila, where the website was announced. The website enables stakeholders to find the right connections and the information that they need.

The United States is leading APEC’s efforts to further empower women through the U.S.-APEC Technical Assistance to Advance Regional Integration (US-ATAARI) project, which Nathan Associates manages. \r\n\r\n In addition to designing and developing the WE-APEC website, Nathan Associates produced the APEC Women and the Economy Dashboard, which measures women’s economic progress using 75 indicators; and produced a literature review informing APEC’s Healthy Women, Healthy Economies Toolkit, a policy handbook to guide APEC economies in achieving equitable healthcare for women.