Series of trade workshops across Asia Pacific aims to help women-owned businesses expand to global markets
SINGAPORE, 6 March 2020 – In conjunction with International Women’s Day on 8 March, UPS (NYSE:UPS) announced a series of capacity-building workshops for female entrepreneurs in several markets across Asia Pacific, in partnership with organisations such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the International Trade Centre’s (ITC) SheTrades initiative.
According to a study by the United Nations (UN), limiting women’s participation in the workforce is costing the Asia Pacific region an estimated US$89 billion annually . While the region has made inroads in women’s entrepreneurship, evidenced by their ownership of 59% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), their businesses tend to be concentrated in lower-value activities. They also appear to be significantly less internationally oriented than male-owned businesses in expanding beyond borders and participating in regional and global value chains . With Asia Pacific accounting for close to 40% of global merchandise exports according to the UN, international trade presents vast opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
“UPS would like small-businesses to dream big. We are excited about leveraging our global trade expertise to help women entrepreneurs access new markets and opportunities,” said Shiumei Lin, Vice President, Public Affairs & Sustainability, UPS Asia Pacific Region.
The workshops are part of UPS’s Women Exporters Programme (WEP), a global initiative that aims to empower women-owned businesses with the knowledge and skills to take their products across borders, export around the globe and increase their market share. The WEP adopts a three-pronged approach comprising:
• Capacity building through workshops and webinars to educate women business owners and their employees about customs regulations, supply chain processes, trade agreements and export opportunities.
• Improving market access by partnering with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and governments, while leveraging UPS’s comprehensive product portfolio for small businesses to help women entrepreneurs identify market access opportunities and tap high-demand industries that suit their skills and circumstances
• Enabling regulatory frameworks by engaging in conversations about policy barriers that discriminate against women who want to export, while also aiming to foster a regulatory environment that enables greater export growth by women-owned businesses.
UPS held its first workshop on 3 March in Cagayan De Oro in the Philippines in partnership with the local USAID mission, where close to 100 women entrepreneurs received training from UPS on trade procedures, navigating customs regulations and how to make their first export to customers, in addition to consumer research insights from UPS’s Pulse of the Online Shopper study. Further workshops are lined up for other cities in the Philippines, as well as Vietnam and Malaysia throughout 2020.
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About UPS
UPS (NYSE: UPS) is a global leader in logistics, offering a broad range of solutions including transporting packages and freight; facilitating international trade, and deploying advanced technology to more efficiently manage the world of business. Headquartered in Atlanta, UPS serves more than 220 countries and territories worldwide. The company can be found on the web at ups.com or pressroom.ups.com and its corporate blog can be found at longitudes.ups.com. To get UPS news direct, follow @UPS_Asia on Twitter.
