Hanoi (VNA) – Vice President DangThi Ngoc Thinh delivered a speech at the opening ceremony of the 2018 GlobalSummit of Women in Sydney, Australia, on April 26, highlighting women’s role inpromoting global governance, inclusive and sustainable development and buildingeconomies of shared values.

Following is the full text of the speech ofVice President Dang Thi Ngoc Thinh at Global Summit of Women.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am delighted to attend the 2018 GlobalSummit of Women with the delegation of female leaders and businesswomen. Firstof all, on behalf of the Vietnamese delegation, I would like to thank the hostcountry of Australia for your gracious hospitality and warm reception extendedto the delegates attending the Summit, including our delegation. Nearly 80members of our delegation would like to send our best regards and wish of goodhealth to all of you.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Global Summit of Women, throughout itsthree decades of history, has proven its tremendous vitality. The Summit hasbecome a gathering of prominent women including leaders, former leaders ofstates and enterprises, those who have worked actively for the progress ofwomen all over the world, all working towards the aim of enhancing women’s roleand empowerment, expanding women’s economic opportunities, thus contributing tonational development and the global economy. The Summit also serves as a bridgebetween socio-economic policy makers, and an incubator of ideas and initiativesfor economic cooperation and networking among businesswomen.

One of the key factors for the success ofthe Summit is that our annual topics are all updated, linked with the ongoingsituations in the world, they are both practical, encouraging us to think ofnew ideas, new inspirations to expand opportunities and address challengesfaced by women, such as “Women: Creating New Economies”, “Women: Building andInclusive Economy in the Digital Age”, and “Womenomics”.

This year’s theme “Creating Economies ofShared Value” is not only a logical extension of previous themes, but also ofparticular significance in our present context. Globalisation and robustdevelopments in science and technology have not always been well received.There have been much doubts in the wake of the anti-globalisation movement,inward-looking policies, populism, and even trade wars. Perhaps not a fewbusinesses present here today have already suffered considerably from theimpacts of these phenomena.

I fully agree with Mr. Kofi Annan, theformer UN Secretary General, who said that “arguing against globalisation islike arguing against the laws of gravity”. Globalisation and economicintegration are clearly an irreversible trend which can generate hugeopportunities and help businesses and nations to maximise their advantages inthe global value chain. We are not ignorant of the multi-dimensional challengesposed by globalisation and international integration. As Australian PrimeMinister Malcolm Turnbull said, “free trade is the key, protectionism is not aladder to get you out of a low growth trap, it is a shovel to dig it a lotdeeper”.

It was with the desire to strengthenconnectivity and cooperation for mutual benefits that the 2017 APEC Summit inVietnam chose the theme of “Creating new dynamism, fostering a shared future”and the four key priorities: “promoting sustainable, innovative and inclusivegrowth”, “deepening regional economic integration”, “strengthening MSMEs’competitiveness and innovation in the digital age”, and “enhancing foodsecurity and sustainable agriculture in response to climate change”.

The Summit had indeed surpassed ourexpectations. Particularly, in APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, over 4000businesses participated in APEC, demonstrating the spirit of business andstart-up, innovation, reaffirming the role of APEC as a forum for people andbusinesses, at the same time opening up new prospects for investment, trade andbusiness growth for the Asia-Pacific region and Vietnam. In addition, in orderto enhance the role of women in the economic field, within APEC 2017, we hadput in place many activities, including "APEC Women and the EconomicForum", which received strong support from APEC members with the initiativeon APEC gender inclusion guidelines.

It is in the same spirit that a month ago,in this very city, at the ASEAN - Australia Special Summit, the leaders ofASEAN and Australian reaffirmed their determination to strengthen economiccooperation and integration, including within the frameworks of multilateraleconomic institutions, as well as to promote business connectivity so as tofully harness the advantages of globalisation and trade liberalisation. It isto my knowledge that the Australian Government, as well as other Governmentswhose countries are represented here, have been making effort to supportregional and global integration mechanisms, considering them a driver of growthand employment generation, and a factor allowing global consumers access to thebest goods and services at the most reasonable prices.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Women can play a key role in promotingglobal governance, inclusive and sustainable development and building economiesof shared values. The World Economic Forum (WEF) stated that greater women’sparticipation in economic activities enables faster and more sustainablegrowth. This also explains why ensuring gender equality and women’s economicempowerment is one of the priorities of the 2030 Agenda for SustainableDevelopment and the development strategies of various countries. I wish tolearn from your experience in generating economic opportunities for women andmaximising their role in the economy.

Increasing women’s role in the economy isalways a priority of Vietnam’s development policies. Currently, women accountfor 48 percent of the labour force and have been making important contributionsto the national economy. According to the statistics of Boston Consulting Group(BCG), Viet Nam enjoys high gender diversity among the region, particularly inthe business sector: 25 percent of CEOs or management board members are women.Businesswomen would be able to access science and technology, internationalmarkets, participate in global value chains and contribute to the shared valuesof the global economy. However, in the changing global context with greatimpacts of the 4th Industrial Revolution and digital economy, Vietnamesebusinesswomen still face a multitude of difficulties, in having access tofinance, asset, global market, particularly in equipping themselves with theupdated knowledge and skills to catch up with the drastic changes in the worldeconomy.

In that spirit, at the Summit today, Iwould like to highlight a few points with regards to the Summit’s theme asfollows:

Firstly, women need to take a leading rolein promoting economic linkages and international cooperation. Thoughglobalisation has its drawbacks, we should make full use of those opportunitiesoffered by globalisation, trade liberalization and the digital age.

Secondly, in building shared values thateconomies are working towards at sub-regional, regional, inter-regional andglobal levels, gender equality and women’s empowerment must always be viewed aspriorities, in which we need to identify the role of the Government andenterprises in creating settings for women to access production, businessresources, creating more conditions for women to actively engage in the market.Women certainly will make active contributions to progressive global governanceand sustainable, inclusive and people-centric economies.

Thirdly, women should be encouraged toupdate themselves with new knowledge so that they would not be left behind bythe digital age and the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Each and every woman alsoneeds to create opportunities for herself by searching for opportunities tolearn and exchange knowledge in order to face the endless changes of the globaleconomy.

Fourthly, businesswomen need to increasenetworking; not only at this Summit, but also all other possible opportunitiesto learn from each other’s experience, explore business solutions andinnovations, assume social responsibility, and better affirm their role in aneconomy of shared values, thus contributing to an economy of shared values.

Given our extremely diverse and practicalprogram within three days, I believe that all of the delegates will certainly haveinteresting and constructive discussions.

Once again, I wish Madam President and allof the delegates good health, happiness. I wish our female entrepreneurs goodhealth, success. I wish our Summit great success.

Thank you for your kind attention./.