Grand Finale of Global Women Empowerment Initiative Hosted in Taipei

Connecting Women-Led Startups, Strengthen Asia-Pacific Bonds

On November 18, more than 100 participants from the APEC region connected online and gathered on-site as the APEC Women-Led Start-Up Accelerator Forum was hosted in 1919 Creative Center. This event served as the grand finale the APEC Women-Led Start-Up Accelerator Initiative, a project launched by Chinese Taipei in APEC co-hosted by Malaysia and Indonesia along the year. 

This grand finale forum was hosted by the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration (SMEA), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA). The event involved stakeholders from various backgrounds including NGOs, industries, policy makers and women-led start-ups from the APEC economies to share their experiences and opinions regarding the latest trend of fundraising. It has shown the world that SMEs from the APEC economics stayed strong to the goal of enhancing the capabilities of women entrepreneurs.

Empower Women, Empower Future 

The workshop began with opening remarks delivered by Ms. Yi-Ling Chen,  Secretary General of Economic Affairs, R.O.C.. She highlighted the key concept of "La Serena Roadmap for Women and Inclusive Growth" is to minimize the barrier for women startups and to create a gender-friendly entrepreneurial environment.

A keynote speech given by Ambassador Ms. Kelley E. Currie (AMBASSADOR-AT-LARGE FOR GLOBAL WOMEN'S ISSUES, United State Department of State) and Ms. Eva Chen, Co-founder and CEO of Trend Micro Inc., together they are sharing how United Nations helps developing women entrepreneurs and the developing trends of women-led startups. Afterwards, a discussion about the market expanding and funding for women entrepreneurs will be hosted by Ms. Pei-Ti Hu, Deputy Director General of SMEA, MOEA, joining her by Ms. Christine Nakamura, Vice President, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, Ms. Fei Yu, Head of Taiwan and Hong Kong, Facebook. Mr. Thang Huynh, Co-founder of InnoLab Aisa, and Ms. Yu-Fen Wong, Chairperson of J.S POWER CO., LTD.

APEC Women-led Start-Up Accelerator Initiative

In the PM session, 14 startups participated the Women-led Start-Up Accelerator from biomedical, agricultural, information technological and care taking industries will join the Demo Day competition, each startup will have their presentation assessed and suggested by the panels, led by Jane Li, Head of Channel Sales, Taiwan & Hong Kong, Google, Ms. Revital Shangental, CEO/founder, Anemone Ventures, and Ms. Teresa Yang, Senior Advisor, K.T. Li Foundation for Development of Science and Technology.

With 9th Women Entrepreneurship Award 2020 ceremony, a road show will be set up to present the achievements of the award-winning women entrepreneurs in 1919 Creative Center, Taipei, Taiwan.

SMEA will continue supporting and empowering women entrepreneurs in every aspect. It is believed that a more inclusive and gender friendly business environment would be the foundation to boost another highlight of global commerce.

For further details, or to arrange possible media interviews, please contact:
Ms. Pei-Ti Hu
Deputy Director General,
Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, MOEA
02-2366-2202
bdhu@moea.gov.tw

Ms. Hsin-Yi Tseng
Section Chief,
Small and Medium Enterprise Administration, MOEA
02-2366-2257
thy@moea.gov.tw