GENEVA, Sept 12: The World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Trade Centre (ITC) has started the implementation of the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy (WEIDE) Fund, a global fund to help women tap into opportunities in international trade and the digital economy.
WTO Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and ITC Executive Director Pamela Coke-Hamilton signed the first grant agreement to the WEIDE Fund with the United Arab Emirates government at an event at the 'WTO Public Forum 2024' on Wednesday.
In her speech, Okonjo-Iweala said: "It brings me great joy today to launch the pilot phase of applications for the Women Exporters in the Digital Economy Fund. The WEIDE Fund represents a pivotal step forward in our collective journey towards gender equality in trade and economic opportunities. This initiative is about much more than financial contributions and technical advice; it's about fostering a future in which women are recognized as indispensable drivers of economic progress."
"One generous donor has helped us kick off this fund with US$ 5 million, which we are signing today and that is the United Arab Emirates. As we launch this, we are going to encourage other donors who will see that it actually works," DG Okonjo-Iweala said, thanking Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs; UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi; and UAE's Ambassador Abdelsalam Mohamed A. Al-Ali.
Coke-Hamilton said: "The WEIDE Fund was set up with a very clear and simple purpose to help these women-led businesses take full advantage of the digital revolution so they would grow trade and take the world by storm. It's also a promise to women entrepreneurs around the world that we will never falter in our commitment to gender equality underpinned by women's economic empowerment. It's what compels us to call on everyone here today to step in and step up so that this WEIDE fund can not only live up to the expectations of women entrepreneurs, but actually surpass them."
The WEIDE Fund, launched by the WTO and the ITC in February 2024 at the 13th Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi, aims to empower women entrepreneurs by helping them grow their businesses through international trade and digitalization.
Specifically, the targeted beneficiaries are women-led micro and small enterprises in the formal sector which are already exporting or have export potential. —BSS
