Summary of the APEC High-Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy

September 16, 2011
Japanese

On September 16, the APEC High-Level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy was held in San Francisco, the United States. A summary of the Dialogue is as follows.

APEC Women and the Economy Summit High Level Policy Dialogue

1) Mr. Joe Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr. Ikko Nakatsuka, Parliamentary Senior Vice-Minister for Gender Equality and Financial Services of the Cabinet Office, Ms. Fumiko Hayashi, Mayor of Yokohama City, Ms. Yukako Uchinaga, Chairman of the Board, CEO and President of Berlitz, and Ms. Akiko Ryu, Senior Operating Officer of Otsuka Pharmaceutical attended the High-level Policy Dialogue on Women and the Economy in San Francisco on September 16. APEC government officials and private sector leaders, UN Women and other related organizations discussed the inclusion of women as an economic growth strategy and recommended concrete policies to increase women’s economic participations in the region. The APEC economies explained the status of women participation in economic activities, and policy measures to bolster such participation.

2) Japan articulated the following points in the High Level Policy Dialogue:
• Japan will make efforts to achieve gender equality and diversity within the government, including aiming to boost the ratio of women in leadership positions to 30% throughout Japanese society. Japan will also actively take part in international efforts related to financial inclusion to support women entrepreneurs.
• It is necessary to change perception of women’s roles among corporate boards in order to promote women’s economic participation.
• In order to bring out the talents of women, it is important to design and implement networks in the APEC region, providing mentoring programs and role models for young women.

3) Furthermore, the San Francisco Declaration was adopted at the High Level Policy Dialogue after due consideration of discussions on concrete policy measures to bolster support for women’s participation in economic activities, held at the Women and the Economy Summit from September 13 to 16. The following points are included among others in the Declaration.
• We, APEC ministers and senior government officials, along with private sector leaders welcomed the establishment of the APEC Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy (PPWE), which streamlines and elevates the influence of women’s contributions towards economic growth and fosters women’s economic empowerment across the region.
• We called on officials to take concrete actions on the following four priority areas: improving access to capital, access to markets, capacity and skills building, and women’s leadership.
Bilateral talks and other discussions held by Mr. Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs

1) US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
On September 16, Mr. Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, greeted US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who in return expressed her excitement over meeting with Foreign Minister Gemba at the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

2) Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa
Mr. Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, held talks with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa on September 16, and agreed to cooperate for the further strengthening of Japan-Indonesia strategic partnerships under the new government. They also agreed to promote mutual cooperation in the infernational arena the APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting scheduled for November this year, the East Asia Summit, and the Japan-ASEAN Summit Meeting.

3) US Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA) Karen Mills
Mr. Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, explained that under the new government, the Japan-US alliance remains at the cornerstone of Japanese diplomacy. He expressed gratitude for the support provided by the U.S. government and its citizens in the wake of the Great East Japan Earthquake, and expressed his wish to advance Japan-US cooperation on APEC. US Administrator of the SBA Karen Mills reiterated condolences for the damage caused by the earthquake, and expressed her desire for Japan and the US to cooperate in fostering women entrepreneurs’ greater contributions toward economic growth.

4) Mr. Nakano, Parliamentary Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs, also held informal talks with Mr. Kevin Rudd, Australian Foreign Minister, Ms. Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Malaysian Minister of Women, Family and Community Development, Dr. Mari Elka, Indonesian Minister for Trade, Ms. Rona Ambrose, Canadian Minister of Public Works and Government Services and Minister for Status of Women, Ms. Garcia Naranjo, Peruvian Minister of Women and Social Development, Ms. Carolina Schmidt, Chilean Minister for the National Women’s Service, Ms. Michelle Bachelet, the UN Women's Executive Director and others, to express his gratitude for support Japan received from their countries and their citizens after the Great East Japan Earthquake, and to exchange views on participation by women in economic activities.

(*This is a provisional translation. The above date denotes the date of the issue of the original press release in Japanese.)

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