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BPW Japan’s Women
Exchange Program |
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Thailand's
Latest Newsletters |
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APEC
Women’s e-Biz Training 2007,e-Biz Training
at Sookmyoung Univ. in Seoul, Korea, 16-19
July, 2007 |
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BPW at the 12th
APEC Women Leaders’ Network Meeting,
Australia, 25-27 June 2007 |
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APEC Digital Economy
Forum for Women 2007, Australia, 22-23 June
2007 |
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Welcome
new affiliate: BPW Siem Reap, Cambodia, June
2007 |
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BPW
New Zealand Club of the Year Award - Audrey
Harris, May 2007 |
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BPW
New Zealand National Conference, May 2007. |
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Asia-Pacific
Regional Conference in Seoul, Korea, 13-15
May 2007. |
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Asia Pacific Regional
Conference, 13-15 May 2007 |
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The 43rd BPW New
Zealand National Conference, 3-6 May 2007 |
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President Chonchanok gave keynote
speech at Shanghai International Form on "Women
Development and Economic Participation"
in China, Nov 2006. |
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President Chonchanok attended
BPW Australia's State Conferences in New South
Wales and Perth, October 2006. |
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Activities of BPW Singapore,
February 2006 |
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BPW New Zealand's National
Conference in April 2006 |
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BPW Hong Kong & Leadership
Development, 2006 |
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BPW Nepal continues to work
for poverty alleviation, 2006 |
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Rejuvenate BPW Bombay, 2006 |
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BPW Pakistan's annual Hazrat
Khadicha Tul Kulbra Conference in January
2006 |
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President Chonchanok attended
BPW Taipei's Candle Lighting ceremony in March
2006. |
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BPW in Thailand co-organized
"The 10th Leading Women Entrepreneur
of the World award" in March 2006. |
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BPW International's Executive
Board met in Bangkok, January 2006. |
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BPW at APEC meetings in
Korea, August 2005 |
| Taiwan: |
The International Conference
on the Interdisciplinary Field of Gender
Studies — APEC Experience Sharing,
Liberty Times, Taipei,
Taiwan, 6th November 2007
The APEC’s concern
about gender issues is clearly manifested
through their initiatives in developing
the “Women Leaders’ Network,
WLN” in 1996 and the establishment
of the “Gender Focal Point Network,
GFPN” in 2003.
Recently, a symposium entitled “The
International Conference on the Interdisciplinary
Field of Gender Studies” was held
at NTHU International Convention Center.
The Conference, organized by the Foundation
of Women Rights’ Promotion and Development,
was held under the supervision of the Department
of Social Affairs, Ministry of Interior,
the latter being the official communication
channel between the Executive Yuan’s
Commission on Women’s Rights Promotion.
Mr. Lin Join-sane, Administrative Vice Minister
of the Ministry of the Interior, was invited
to give opening remarks. Hosted by the Executive
Yuan’s Commission on Women’s
Rights Promotion, international specialists
and APEC members were invited to share experiences
on the interdisciplinary field of gender
studies.
More
information ..>> |
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| Australia: |
BPW at the 12th
APEC Women Leaders’ Network Meeting
The 12th APEC Women Leaders’
Network was held at Sheraton Mirage Hotel,
Port Douglas, Australia during 25-27 June
2007. Participants included over 300 women
from 21 economies of APEC which also included
BPW members from Australia, Japan, Philippines,
Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand.
President Chonchanok Viravan
gave a plenary session talk on “International
Migration and Business Challenges to Build
Sustainable Future”. This talk was
well received. She was delighted that one
of the 12 recommendations from this meeting
addressed migration issues.
President Chonchanok also
met with women leaders who are interested
in helping form new BPW Associate Clubs
in Philippines, Russia and Vietnam. Many
Australian women expressed their interest
to join BPW Australia to Kay Morrison, President
of BPW Australia.
Dr. Chonchanok Viravan
BPW International President |
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| Australia: |
APEC Digital
Economy Forum for Women 2007
APEC Forum on Digital Economy
for Women (APEC DEW): Building Sustainable
e-Future was held at Port Douglas, Australia
on 22-23 June 2007. Dr. Chonchanok Viravan
chaired the session on “Lessons Learned
and Best Practices around APEC” and
co-chaired APEC Digital Economy Forum for
Women 2007: Summit Meeting on 23 June 2007.
An outcome of this meeting is an agreement
to form APEC Women Leaders Network in ICT
(Information and Communication Technology),
which later was welcomed as a key collaborative
partner of APEC Women Leaders’ Network.
Dr. Chonchanok Viravan
BPW International President |
Asia Pacific
Regional Conference
The Asia Pacific Regional
Conference was held in Seoul, Korea on 13-15
May 2007, immediately after the 4th Young
BPW International Meeting from 10-13 May
2007. Both events received good press coverage.
Several national newspapers highlighted
the quote from International President Chonchanok
Viravan that the alternative solution for
a woman who hits a glass ceiling is to change
the building.
The event started with
a dinner which was a farewell to Young BPW
and a welcome for the Asia-Pacific Regional
Conference. The Mayor of Seoul, hosted the
event. President of BPW Korea, Hyang Sook
Kim presented a Gold Award to Yoon Seok-Keum,
Chair of Woongjin Group for his outstanding
support in creating jobs for women and improving
their status.
The opening ceremony on
14 May 2007 was inaugurated by Prime Minister
Dr. Han Duck-Soo of Korea. The keynote speech
was by Vice Minister of Gender Equality
and Family, Dr. Chang Soon Kim "Government
Gender Policy and Capacity Building for
Women Leaders" and by Dr. Chonchanok
Viravan on "Take the Lead: The Challenges
in Reforming BPW.”
This was followed by “New
Dimensions of Leadership" session with
Past International President Antoinette
Ruegg, Kobkarn Wattanavarangkul, President
of Toshiba (Thailand), the winner of the
Leading Women Entrepreneur of the World
2004. Other sessions included Organization
Review and Reform sessions on BPW Financial
Strategy, BPW Management and BPW Network.
Committee chairs presented their reports
on Friends and Fellows, Mentoring, Young
BPW and Health. Country reports were presented
by Presidents of BPW Australia, Japan, Hong
Kong, Korea, New Zealand, Nepal, Singapore,
Thailand, Cook Island., and Uzbekistan.
Ambica Shrestha, Asia-Pacific Regional Coordinator
presented the reports from the other countries
that were not present. BPW Korea’s
survey result on Prospects of Jobs for Women
was also presented. BPW partner, Asia-Pacific
Women Information Network Center presented
the work on E-Business Training.
The Conference was a great
success. Thank you BPW Korea President Dr.
Hyang Sook Kim and your team for exemplary
work!
Ambica Shrestha
Asia-Pacific Regional Coordinator |
The 43rd BPW
New Zealand National Conference
BPW New Zealand held its
National Conference on 3-6 May 2007 at Invercargil.
International President Chonchanok Viravan
and BPW New Zealand President Faye Gardiner
had a television interview prior to the
conference. BPW New Zealand currently has
30 clubs with total of 735 members. BPW
Auckland won the award as the club with
highest increase in membership. It is interesting
to note that seventy-five percent of the
BPW Auckland members are migrants. BPW New
Zealand passed several resolutions to lobby
to address health issues for women. To get
a full picture of the work and the fun,
visit
www.bpw-international.org/activities/activitiesconference-
bpw-new zealand-may2007.htm for a report
fromExecutive Secretary, Freda Miriklis.
Dr. Chonchanok Viravan
BPW International President |
BPW Japan’s
Women Exchange Program
BPW Japan has collaborated
with Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Japan
as one of the main actors for the Women
Exchange Program since 1998. In 2006, a
delegation led by President of BPW Japan,
Nobuko Kurosaki, participated in a visit
to Egypt, Jordan and Palestine. In Egypt,
they visited Dr. Amany Asfour, BPW Africa
Regional Coordinator and a school for Egyptian
girls. In Jordan, they discussed how to
encourage women to participate in the economy.
They also met with young Jordanian ladies
from Jordanian Universities to hear their
views on being professional women. In Jerusalem,
they joined the seminar for young Palestinian
women who want to be entrepreneurs. They
also met the President of BPW Palestine,
who is the Vice President of Coca-Cola Palestine.
Nobuko Kurosaki
President of BPW Japan |
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| China: |
President Chonchanok
gives keynote speech at Shanghai International
Form on "Women Development and Economic
Participation" in China, November 2006
I was a keynote speaker
at Shanghai International Forum on "Women's
Development and Economic Participation"
on 9-10 November 2006 in Shanghai, China.
My talk on "International Perspectives
on Improving Women Economic Participation"
gave me opportunities to tell over 200 Chinese
women and international participants how
BPW projects help "bridge the gaps"
in women development within their own countries.
I also had a fruitful meeting with Madame
Meng Yan Kun, Chair, Shanghai Women Federation,
where we laid out a future collaborative
plan between BPW International and Shanghai
Women Federation. Three initial areas of
collaboration include (1) Forming a BPW
club in Shanghai, (2) Lobbying the stock
exchange to collect gender statistics of
executive levels in the listed companies,
(3) Twinning with BPW located in sister
cities of Shanghai. Madame Meng also accepted
my invitation for her and members of Shanghai
Women’s Federation to attend the Asia-Pacific
Regional Conference in Seoul Korea on 12-15
May 2007. My policy recommendations to address
all phases of women development (not just
training women to enter the workforce) and
promoting more women to serve at executive
level were adopted and included in the final
policy recommendations of the Shanghai Women
Federation for this forum. Dr Li-Yan Ling
who had taken care of me during my visit
also took me to visit Chinese Executives
Leadership Academy Pudong (CELAP). This
is one of the three major leadership training
facilities in China. With funding from Central
Government, CELAP trains high level leaders
for government and top executives from business
community. As there are training courses
that last up to 6 months, they are building
a complex with accommodation built in for
participants. China is indeed developing
its competitiveness in the right place -
the people.
Dr. Chonchanok Viravan
International President
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| Australia |
President Chonchanok attended
BPW Australia's State Conferences in New
South Wales and Perth, October 2006
I attended two State Conferences
in Australia in October 2006: BPW New South
Wales (NSW) State Conference in Coffs Harbour
and BPW Western Australia (WA) State Conference
in Perth to celebrate its 60th Anniversary,
where I gave a talk about BPW and The United
Nations, BPW benefits for young BPW, and
the progress of Organization Review and
Reform. It was great for me to meet so many
BPW Australia members, especially Past International
Presidents Beryl Nashar and Dr. Pat Harrison.
These conferences also offered great opportunities
for Liz Benham and I to catch up with chairs
of committees / taskforces from Australia.
BPW Australia, under the leadership of National
President Kay Morrison, has many impressive
initiatives. Its brochures, new name cards,
and new web site look highly professional
- with a slogan "Nobody cares about
women issues like we do." The management
of the national office was outsourced. Individual
members now pay dues online directly by
credit cards. Membership cards are also
issued. Mentoring and Leadership training
programs are widely promoted. National Young
Women's Board was established in 2006 to
address the undergoing both structural and
constitution reviews. The executive chair
of this review is Marilyn Forsythe. BPW
Western Australia produces a very interesting
guide called "Keys to Achievement:
A personal and professional development
program for Women". It is designed
to challenge members of BPW to work through
a structured series of tasks to develop
key career and business skills such as communication,
development and leadership as well as to
enhance knowledge and commitment to BPW.
Dr. Chonchanok Viravan
International President
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| Singapore: |
Activities of
BPW Singapore
BPW Singapore consists
of 3 clubs with the total of 170 members.
In 2006, the clubs held several activities,
including social networking, seminars and
trade mission. The highlight for 2006 was
the Candle Lighting ceremony held on 18
February. Seminars and workshops conducted
in 2006 are: Achieving Financial Independence,
Wellness program, Computer tutorial program
in collaboration with Singapore Council
of Women's Organization (SCWO) IT Hub, Women
Inspire 2006, IDP Leadership (Individual
Development Program) Facilitator Certification
Program and IDP Leadership training. For
social networking among members there were
the Oriental Night, Autumn Festival and
Ladies Night. The trade mission to China
was also organised that year. The key projects
and interest groups of BPW Singapore include:
(1) Singapore Women in Finance (SWIF); (2)
Singapore Women in Mentoring (SWIM); (3)
Singapore Women in Technology (SWIT); (4)
Young BPW Conference; (5) Leadership Development;
and (6) Trade Mission.
Choo Lai Sim
President, BPW Singapore |
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| New
Zealand: |
BPW New Zealand's
National Conference in 2006
BPW New Zealand’s National
Conference was held in Tauranga, New Zealand
on 28-30 April 2006. The election was held
and the new President of BPW New Zealand
is Faye Gardiner. (Faye also served as Chair
of Health Committee for BPW International).
As BPW New Zealand is very strong in advocacy,
they passed several resolutions that called
for lobbying to change New Zealand legislation
to improve conditions for working women,
especially those to improve their health.
My presentation on. “The Joy and Challenges
of BPW International President” was well
received by New Zealand members. I had the
honour of giving “Certificate of Recognition”
to Pauline Gapper for her 50 years membership
of BPW New Zealand.
Dr. Chonchanok Viravan
International President |
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| Hong
Kong: |
BPW Hong Kong
& Leadership Development
The Hong Kong Association
of Business and Professional Women (BPW
Hong Kong) and the Center for Creative Leadership
collaborated in a unique leadership development
opportunity – the week-long Women’s
Leadership Program. This leadership program
has been attended by over 4,000 women in
the last 20 years and is run four times
a year.
The Center for Creative
Leadership was the “Leadership Sponsor”
for BPW Hong Kong’s 2006 International
Women’s Day Gala Evening providing
two scholarships worth US$12,000 for two
BPW members: Daisy Lo, Marketing Director
for the Hong Kong Securities Institute and
Siew Quen Thong, CFO of Texon.
This International Women’s
Day event also featured three CEOs who spoke
on their success as leaders. The International
Women’s Day Event is the major fund-raiser
for BPW Hong Kong’s bursary fund.
Over 150 guests were in attendance and BPW
Hong Kong also presented two bursary awards
for 2006 to Ms. Law Sum and Ms. Ling Ka
Man.
Anna Fang
Past President , BPW Hong Kong |
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| Nepal: |
BPW Nepal continues
to work for poverty alleviation
BPW Nepal continues to
be active in poverty alleviation activities.
In Katmandu, BPW Nepal supports women to
start growing mushrooms in their small backyard
and now the whole village is known as mushroom
village with all the village members working
on growing mushrooms. It is now a business
for the community. Women have formed cooperative
societies and are developing business. In
Patan area with the same program the women
are working with Micro- Credit and earning.
There are over 900 women who have taken
Micro-credit and there is a 100% return
and not a single defaulter. Each woman is
producing something and working with such
things as vegetables, oil, chicken, goats,
buffalos etc They are growing organic vegetables.
In Bhaktapur, with BPW Nepal’s support,
Thimi women are growing organic vegetables
and have became good earners. They have
sewing classes, literacy classes and self-esteem
classes.
Ambica Shrestra
Asia-Pacific Regional Coordinator |
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| India: |
Rejuvenate BPW
Bombay
BPW Bombay, which has been
inactive for the past years, has been rejuvenated.
When they were holding their meeting to
get members, I was there as their guest.
I found that Ms. Ranjan Amin was at the
helm and was working with a group of dynamic
young ladies to promote BPW. A meeting was
organized with very well known people from
India and Bombay speaking on "Women
Awaking"- Women Helping Women. The
President of BPW, Ms. Ranjan Amin and Treasurer,
Ms. Dolly Mathur conducted the meeting which
was very successful. Another function was
held with the topic " Make your Money
Grow'" this was sponsored by Citibank
and Merrill Lynch. The gathering was very
lively. They have decided to hold their
meetings on the last Saturday of every month.
This club is now ready to join BPW International.
But on a sad note: Mrs. Ranjan Amin’s husband
Babu passed away on May 6th 2006. Let is
pray that the Lord give her the wisdom and
strength to bear the great loss.
Ambica Shrestra,
Asia-Pacific Regional Coordinator
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| Pakistan: |
BPW Pakistan's
annual Hazrat Khadicha Tul Kulbra Conference
in January 2006
By invitation of Dr. Salima
Ahmad, President Chonchanok attended BPW
Pakistan’s annual Hazrat Khadicha
Tul Kulbra Conference in Karachi, Pakistan
as a chief guest on 14-15 January 2006.
During the seminar “Enlighten Moderation
and Road Map for Women Development”
on 14 January at Dr. SRA Women’s Complex,
Dr. Chonchanok gave a talk to emphasize
the needs to value women’s work by
its quality rather than the hours they can
sit in the office and the need to make the
return on investment when women became top
executive visible. The gala dinner was BPW
Pakistan’s candle lighting ceremony.
The next day was the award ceremony where
President Chonchanok gave Hazrat Khadicha
Tul Kulbra gold medals (Outstanding Women
Award) to 5 women, including Dr Saeeda Malik
Minister of Women Development, Government
of Sindh, Pakistan. Khadicha Tul Kulbra
is considered to be a “perfect women”
and a “role model” as she was
both a successful women entrepreneur and
a great wife to the prophet Mohammad. The
event is broad cast in several television
channels.
In the evening at the Farewell
Dinner, Dr. Salima surprised President Chonchanok
by presenting her with Khadicha Tul Kulbra
gold medal – in recognition that she
is the first president of BPW International
from Asia. BPW Pakistan has many impressive
projects. They managed to raise fund to
build many women hostels in many cities
in Pakistan to give accommodation to working
women. Dr. Chonchanok visited one of the
schools that BPW Pakistan has adopted and
turn into “Quality School”,
with better qualified teachers, better support
on education materials and better design
on school curriculum and low tuition fee.
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| Taiwan: |
President Chonchanok
Attended BPW Taipei's Candle Lighting ceremony
in March 2006
BPW Taipei organized a
Candle Lighting ceremony on 11 March 2006,
where President Chonchanok attended and
delivered her message. At this ceremony,
President of BPW Taipei, Fongmei Hsu, gave
an award to Taiwan Vice President Lu (in
the middle), who is also a co-founder of
BPW Taipei. This ceremony was broadcast
on Taiwan National television. On 12 March,
President Chonchanok had a chance to dine
with members of BPW Taiwan to exchanges
ideas and informed them about BPW International
activities.
The strength of BPW in
Taiwan is in lobbying as BPW members there
have a lot of political connection. On 13
March, they arranged for President Chonchanok
to meet with key organizations that work
on gender issues, including the Foundation
of Women Rights Promotion and Development,
Taiwan Foundation for Democracy, National
Council of Women and the Y.W.C.A. Taiwan
is quite advance in collecting gender disaggregated
data, addressing gender issues, and have
high participation of women in the government.
When Dr. Chonchanok identified the information
gap on statistics for women participation
as an executive in the private sector, the
authorities were quite eager to address
this issue.
|
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| Thailand: |
BPW in Thailand co-organized
"The 10th Leading Women Entrepreneur
of the World Award" in March 2006.
The Executive Board meeting
was held in Bangkok on 4-8 January 2006,
follow by an International Planning Committee
(IPC) meeting on 9 January 2006. While tough
issues were addressed during the days, our
executives enjoyed relaxing evenings after
the meeting each day. BPW Thailand’s
president, Maleeratna Plumchitchom along
with other Thai members hosted a welcome
dinner for the executive board at the Grand
Hyatt Hotel Erawan (see the photo) on 5
January. After the meetings, the executive
board went for a tour and shopping spree
in Chiang Mai at their own expense. They
were welcome by the wife of Chiang Mai governor
at the luncheon hosted by past president
of BPW Chiang Mai, M.L. Preeyapun Sridavat.
In March 2006, Khunying Natthika Wattanavekin
Ang-Ubonkul and Kobkarn Wattanawarangkul,
Members of BPW Thailand, led a team to organize
“The 10th Leading Women Entrepreneur
of the World Award” of the Star’s
Group on 22 March 2006 in Bangkok, Thailand.
This is a world class event where winners
must be successful business women whose
businesses are considered leading business
in her countries. For 2006, out of 15 winners
worldwide, two are BPW members. They are
Khunying Sasima Srivigrom and Mrs. Patara
Sila-On. Both are members of BPW Thailand.
The Star’s Group also gave three funding
awards to small local business owners with
high potential. The first prize was USD
10,000. The second and third prizes were
USD 2,500 each. Pim Kemasingki, a Young
BPW from Chiang Mai Thailand won the second
prize. Back in 2007, the competition was
in Africa. |
|
| Thailand: |
BPW International’s
Executive Board met in Bangkok, January
2006.
The Executive Board meeting
was held in Bangkok on 4-8 January 2006,
follow by an International Planning Committee
(IPC) meeting on 9 January 2006. While tough
issues were addressed during the days, our
executives enjoyed relaxing evenings after
the meeting each day. BPW Thailand’s
president, Maleeratna Plumchitchom along
with other Thai members hosted a welcome
dinner for the executive board at the Grand
Hyatt Hotel Erawan on 5 January. |
| |
| Korea: |
BPW at APEC meetings
in Korea, 2005
President Chonchanok and
Young BPW Chair Rooma Para, President of
BPW Philippines Nona Ricafort, along with
other BPW members from Japan, Philippines
and Korea, attended APEC Forum on Digital
Economy for Women at Sookmyong Women University
in Seoul, Korea on 22-23 August 2005 and
APEC Women Leaders’ Network (WLN)
on 24-26 August 2005 in Daegu, Korea.
In the first event, Dr.
Chonchanok gave a talk on “Strategies
of Online Banking Services” and Rooma
Para gave a talk on “E-Business Training
– an on-going endeavor to empower
women”. In the second event, she gave
a talk on “The Future of WLN”.
BPW Korea strategically arranged two national
newspapers to interview for Dr. Chonchanok
and Rooma in Seoul. When the interview articles
were published during APEC’s Women
Leaders’ Network in Daegu, the news
significantly raised BPW’s profile
among women leaders in the 21 member economies
of APEC.
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