A US official praised Taiwan’s efforts to support female entrepreneurs and thanked the nation for its “generous contributions” to the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) launched by the US.
Sara Mathews, director of the Office of Press and Public Diplomacy in the US Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, made the remark at the opening ceremony of the AWE Indo-Pacific Women in Tech Summit held by the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT), the Small and Medium Enterprise and Startup Administration and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taipei yesterday.
The US Department of State’s Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs launched the academy in nearly 100 countries in 2019 to support and empower female entrepreneurs around the world, the AIT said.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
Taiwan joined the initiative in 2021.
Seventy-five female entrepreneurs representing associates from Taiwan, Brunei, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam were invited to join the three-day summit, the AIT said.
‘BEST IN THE REGION’
“Taiwan’s AWE program is the best within the region” thanks to the significant support it receives from the administration, Mathews said.
“There is no other place better than Taiwan to host such a regional Women in Tech Summit,” as it is a progressing democracy in the Indo-Pacific region, has a thriving economy and is a technological powerhouse, AIT Director Sandra Oudkirk said.
The initiative in Taiwan has provided training and networking opportunities to female entrepreneurs, 205 of whom have graduated and become frequent winners of a wide range of competitions, she said.
The AIT also operates Inspiring Women Entrepreneurs and TechCamp Kaohsiung to foster female business owners, Oudkirk said, adding that the programs help boost economic and people-to-people ties between Taiwan and the US.
“Women entrepreneurs are significant forces in driving global economic growth,” Deputy Minister of Economic Affairs Chen Chern-chyi (陳正祺) said.
Through the program, Taiwan aims to connect female entrepreneurs in the Indo-Pacific region to increase the potential for further collaboration, he said.
PROGRAM’S OFFERINGS
The program in Taiwan offers a series of entrepreneurial courses, exchange events and platforms for participants to form connections with AWE alumni, and invites Taiwanese female business leaders and entrepreneurs to serve as mentors, the administration said.
Participants are encouraged to expand into US markets, establishing a model of female entrepreneurship in the Indo-Pacific region and creating an environment that is friendly to female enterprises, it said.
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