The 2023 BRICS Women's Leadership Forum will be held in Beijing. Shen Yueyue, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and chairman of the All-China Women's Federation, Ren Hongbin, chairman of the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Xie Shengwen, South African ambassador to China, Wang Shutong, Chinese director of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance, founder and chairman of DHgate Group, and representatives from South Africa, Russia, Many business representatives from Brazil, India and other BRICS countries attended the meeting.
Innovative technologies and services help women seize development opportunities
In the era of digital economy, acquiring digital tools and mastering digital skills has become an important path for women's career development. However, according to a survey report released by the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) in 2022, among 500 female SME practitioners from 21 member economies, 63% of the respondents believed that they "lack professional digital skills". ". At the same time, women's access to digital tools is also significantly different than men's. "We must face up to the status quo. Women still lack sufficient opportunities to acquire digital knowledge and skills, let alone benefit from them." Wang Shutong emphasized.
The booming social e-commerce is bringing more vitality and opportunities to global trade. According to an Accenture report, the growth rate of social e-commerce is three times that of traditional e-commerce, and it can reach 1.2 trillion US dollars by 2025. Some women have seized this opportunity - Wang Shutong shared the story of a Chinese student from Russia. Sonya relied on part-time modeling to maintain her studies in China, but during the epidemic, she had to find another way out. Taking this as an opportunity, she began to learn e-commerce knowledge on the social e-commerce platform MyyShop, and tried to sell wigs through her social media accounts. Relying on her own efforts and the supply and fulfillment services provided by MyyShop, her monthly sales of the store exceeded 400,000 US dollars soon after, and the income can not only continue her studies, but also support her family expenses.
MyyShop is a social e-commerce platform launched by DHgate Group in 2020. It provides services such as store opening, product selection, supply, marketing and contract fulfillment based on social media. Through a comprehensive support system, it helps users acquire digital skills and full-link trade Knowledge training, providing business resource docking. For female entrepreneurs, MyyShop solves the most complicated supply chain problems in the cross-border e-commerce chain with innovative technology and services. Give full play to their strengths, participate in the digital economy more equally and fairly, and achieve career development.
At the same time, digital transformation also has unlimited potential. Wang Shutong pointed out that machine learning represented by ChatGPT is providing new digital tools for female entrepreneurs. "We must control and use the latest technology. I look forward to seeing more female entrepreneurial enterprises that can effectively use social power and new technologies." Wang Shutong said.
Amplify women's voices and prepare for an international women's empowerment community
At the forum site, Wang Shutong called for more cooperation between different organizations in the BRICS countries, collective voices, amplifying the power of role models to inspire women around the world, creating a more favorable public opinion environment for female entrepreneurs, and allowing more women to see digital The infinite possibilities that the economy brings. Wang Shutong also invited representatives of the BRICS Women's Business Alliance to provide counseling and assistance to female entrepreneurs through regular lectures and one-on-one counseling. "For female entrepreneurs, the road to entrepreneurship is long and difficult. If someone who has experience guides the way and provides them with valuable experience in the process, it can greatly increase their possibility of success in entrepreneurship." Wang Shutong said.
According to Wang Shutong, she is preparing to establish an international female empowerment community, which aims to gather people with common ambitions and provide a platform for global female entrepreneurs and groups in need of help to grow together. By encouraging role models to stand up and amplify their voices, encourage more women to think outside the box. At the same time, it also provides a platform for women to support and improve each other, so that they have the opportunity to learn new skills, acquire new resources, realize their self-worth faster and better, and gather positive "her power".
This is not the first time Wang Shutong has launched a women's project. In 2016, Wang Shutong launched APEC Women Connect in the name of DHgate.com to create a digital entrepreneurship sharing community for women around the world through "sharing, learning and motivation". At present, more than 100,000 women around the world have participated in the project, and the project has been included in the policy recommendation report to the leaders of APEC economies for four consecutive years.
The "Her Power" Global Social E-commerce Female Entrepreneurship Competition hosted by APEC Women Connect is dedicated to activating women's passion for entrepreneurship in the digital economy. Since its launch in 2020, it has attracted nearly 1,300 female entrepreneurs from more than 10 countries around the world to participate , has received widespread attention internationally. "We will continue to do this project and continue to expand its influence to drive and help more entrepreneurial women. We also sincerely hope that WBA directors and business representatives will join us to expand our influence together. Help more people." Wang Shutong said.
The BRICS Women's Business Alliance is an industrial and commercial cooperation mechanism officially established during the 2020 BRICS Leaders Summit, which was initiated by Russia in 2017 and authorized by the leaders of the BRICS countries in 2019. A new proprietary platform aimed at promoting women's active role in BRICS economic development.
