SOUTH ASIA: Invest More in Women Empowerment

Nations should invest more to educate and empower women, as they can contribute to economic growth and help reduce poverty, international experts said. The observations came at a discussion styled “Making Economic Progress” on the sideline of the symposium “Imagining Another Future for Asia: Ideas and Pathways for Change” at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka yesterday.

Chittagong-based Asian University for Women (AUW) organised the three-day conference, attended by policymakers, experts and analysts from across the world.

David O'Rear, chief economist of Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce, said there is a strong correlation between women empowerment and infant mortality and child welfare.

“Educated women can create educated children. Women earning more can help family better and afford more for their children. They don't pass poverty on their children,” he noted.

He said the number of people living on less than two dollars a day has been decreasing.

“About one billion people across the world have come out of poverty trap since 1980. So, we know how to do it. But we have to do it faster and deeper.”

O'Rear also said the government and legal system have to be transparent, efficient and honest, and services will have to be readily available to all to come out of the bracket of poor countries.

Kathy Matsui, managing director and chief strategist of Goldman Sachs Japan, said gender equality in education and employment is essential for any country to grow, as women are the world's greatest under-utilised resource today.

“Gender parity is, however, improving at primary and secondary school levels, and young women are more literate than their male counterparts.

“These are all good news, but it remains to be seen how many women of the total population is participating in the workforce. Women's working potential has so far remained untapped,” she said.

Matsui said women's participation in the workforce in many countries is shocking. “Men outrun women everywhere in the world, not only in the low income countries.”

She said returns on investment for women are higher compared to their male counterparts. “They can contribute to building large workforce, strong human capital, higher productivity and more productive agriculture output.”

Martin Wolf, associated editor of the Financial Times, said Asian countries are leading the way the whole world is transforming.

He, however, advised countries to be cautious, as prices of commodities are going to be a serious issue in the near future.

The financial analyst also said the new world order has brought opportunities for the latecomers to use technology available elsewhere. “They, however, have to be careful so that they can avoid mistakes made by others.”

“There should be a frugal development. Countries must lessen reliance on fossil fuels and use less resource than they use today,” he said.

Martin Rama, acting chief of the World Bank South Asia region, said countries must try to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to spur domestic investment. “Not all developing countries, however, have benefited from the flow of FDI, which suggests that domestic conditions matter too.”

He said Bangladesh has to correct its weak infrastructure such as acute power and gas crises to attract FDI.

Shoaib Sultan Khan, chairperson of Pakistan-based Rural Support Programme, also spoke.

Established in 2008, AUW is a leading institution of higher education for women where students from 13 countries -- Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Palestine, Sri Lanka, USA, and Vietnam -- are studying.