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Saturday, Jul. 25, 1998
Women's clout in economy rated higher
73 nations taking part in Global Summit of Women
By EDITH M. LEDERER
Associated PressLONDON -- Women are moving steadily into the entrepreneurial ranks, increasing their impact on global markets and positioning themselves to be even bigger players the next century, participants in the fifth Global Summit of Women said Friday.
``Global markets and women are not often used in the same sentence,'' said Irene Natividad, the summit director, who is also the chairwoman of the U.S. National Commission on Working Women. ``But increasingly, statistics show that women have economic clout -- most visibly as entrepreneurs and most powerfully as consumers.''
Women own between a quarter and a third of all businesses worldwide. In the European Union, one-third of new businesses are being started by women. And in the United States, more than 7.7 million women-owned businesses are now generating $2.3 trillion in revenue.
The 400 participants from 73 countries at the four-day summit, which ends Sunday, reflect the growing global power of women: Many are company owners, top executives, corporate board members, politicians and heads of volunteer organizations.
Women wage earners represent 30 percent to 40 percent of the global workforce, Natividad said, and as their numbers increase so does their earning power.
In a keynote address Friday, Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, director of the U.N. Development Program's Human Development Report, affirmed that an increasing number of women are becoming entrepreneurs.
``And the growing economic power and influence of women-owned businesses are changing the shape of the global economy,'' she said.
``Four out of 10 women business leaders are currently involved in the international marketplace. This is a new trend -- a survey shows about half only became involved within the last year. And nearly half of those not yet involved say they have plans to do so in the next three years,'' Fukuda-Parr said.
The biggest potential for women's economic power in the 21st century lies in the growing number of women entrepreneurs and the increasing clout of women in a consumer-driven world, she said.
Ann Sherry, general manager of human resources at Bank of Melbourne-Westpac Banking Corp., one of Australia's largest financial institutions, said it's time for women to recognize ``that we are in the early days of a genuine `girl power' revolution.''
``Women have enormous power to wield as consumers, investors, shareholders, superannuation fund holders and as a big part of the employee community,'' she said.
Baroness Jean Denton, a member of Britain's House of Lords and former Northern Ireland trade minister, said women should use their power not to move up existing corporate ladders, but to change organizations ``to the benefit of women from top to bottom.''Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web