High-level women representatives from the Finance Ministries of Thailand and Indonesia and Southeast Asian women executives from regional and U.S. financial companies and think tanks, along with the CEO of the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurship Network (AWEN), discussed strategies for increasing the number of women leaders in ASEAN’s financial sector during a August 25 webinar. The event was hosted by USASEAN and funded by the Economic Bureau’s Providing Opportunities for Women’s Economic Rise (POWER) program. During the two panel sessions focused on the value of women’s perspectives in finance and how to promote women’s leadership in ASEAN financial institutions, panelists called for governments and stakeholders to: adopt national agendas for women’s economic empowerment; identify financial literacy and networking tools to support women’s careers in finance; support women-owned MSMEs; and ensure an equitable financial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The webinar, which offered simultaneous interpretation in five regional languages and attracted more than 4200 viewers, was a part of USASEAN’s continuing efforts to support women’s economic empowerment through both economic and public affairs programs, including U.S.-ASEAN Connect, USAID’s support for the ASEAN Women’s Science Prize, and USASEAN’s management of the Young Southeast Asia Leadership Initiative (YSEALI).
