Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-o-cha delivered remarks via a teleconference at the 2nd ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit under theme “Building A More Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Future: Unlocking Women’s Entrepreneurship”. Deputy Secretary-General to the Prime Minister and Acting Government Spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri disclosed gist of the remarks as follows:
The Prime Minister expressed pleasure and honor to be part of this ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit, and commended Cambodia for recognizing and building upon ASEAN Leaders’ commitment at the First ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit in 2020 where the importance was placed on the role of women in strengthening a sustainable ASEAN Community post COVID-19. The outcomes of that Summit have been incorporated in the “Declaration on Building a More Sustainable, Inclusive and Resilient Future: Unlocking Women’s Entrepreneurship in ASEAN” which will be adopted at the ASEAN Summit in November this year.
The Prime Minister took the opportunity to underscore the Thai Government’s commitment to promote women’s empowerment, especially women entrepreneurs and women workers, which helps bring about real benefits to the social development and economic stability. To achieve this, Thailand has undertaken measures to empower women in the following three dimensions:
1. Enacting policies that empower women : Thailand translates its commitments into actions through the implementation of the Action Plan for Women’s Development 2023 – 2025 which identifies core elements in strengthening women’s human capital throughout their lifetime with greater recognition of the importance of broad social and economic opportunities in women’s self-improvement and development and their role in developing the country.
2. Capacity building for women : Thailand has undertaken programs to equip women with entrepreneurial skills and digital literacy enabling them to participate in the digital economy, and has worked with partners to increase women’s access to funds for MSMEs and create access to working capital to support the jobs of rural women workers.
3. Creating a conducive economic environment : Thailand has declared the economic empowerment of women as a national agenda, and implemented policies that encourage women and increase their roles in driving the economy, e.g., setting-up of nursery service centers for children, encouraging paternity leave to allow fathers to assist mothers in the care of children after birth, and allowing extension of maternity leave with pay.
The Prime Minister believes that the next step for ASEAN is to further empower women to become a key driving force in economic development and part of the ASEAN community building that is sustainable and united in the post-COVID world through the followings: 1) implementing gender mainstreaming into economic policies both at the national and regional levels; 2) setting goals that enhance women’s abilities to learn from the past and tackle future crises; and 3) promote a new economic development model which is the Bio-Circular-Green Economy Model, or BCG. Thailand also has a number of successful women entrepreneurs in BCG-related ventures, who can serve as role models in promoting sustainable growth.
The Prime Minister also expressed confidence that cooperation and unity within ASEAN are essential in the empowerment of women, including promoting the role of women entrepreneurs through the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs Network (AWEN), which will bring about an ASEAN Community that is equal, prosperous, and people-centered where no one is left behind.
The 2nd ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit was held in a hybrid format with an aim to promote dynamism for gender equality, women’s rights and the rights of ASEAN women and youths. It is also a platform for ASEAN leaders and women to meet and discuss challenges and opportunities for ASEAN women entrepreneurs. Ten ASEAN leaders, representative and the leader of New Zealand including have delivered their remarks at the event. (PRD)
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