APEC Ministerial Meeting Recognizes Women's Role in Asia-Pacific Development

The ministers of trade and foreign affairs of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in a final joint statement underlined the importance of women’s contribution to economic growth with a view to achieving a more inclusive and balanced growth for the Asia-Pacific region through fostering an enabling environment for women.

IMA (Sputnik) — The ministers of trade and foreign affairs of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in a final joint statement on Friday recognized the crucial role of women in the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific.

"On this five year anniversary of the San Francisco Declaration we reaffirm our shared vision for inclusive growth in which women are able to achieve their full economic potential and contribute to the development and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific," the joint statement said.

According to the statement, the ministers underlined the importance of women’s contribution to economic growth with a view to achieving a more inclusive and balanced growth for the Asia-Pacific region through fostering an enabling environment for women.

"We recognizing our responsibility to create a society in which all women and girls are empowered and actively engaged for sustainable, inclusive and equitable economic growth, we call on economies to pursue concrete policies and innovative measures to further enhance women’s economic empowerment by providing wider access and more resources for more women to engage in economic activities," the participants of Peru APEC Ministerial Meeting (AMM) stressed in the joint statement.

The ministerial meeting concluded earlier on Friday and will be followed by the APEC summit on November 20.