IFC: HoSE Join 42 Stock Exchanges Worldwide to Ring the Bell for Gender Equality
IFC: HoSE Join 42 Stock Exchanges Worldwide to Ring the Bell for Gender Equality
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and the Hochiminh Stock Exchange (HoSE) are joining stock exchanges around the world in a global initiative to “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” - a partnership that highlights the economic imperative of empowering women in the workplace, marketplace, and community.
From Ho Chi Minh City, representatives of HoSE, IFC and UN Women, together with senior businesswomen will ring the opening bell to mark International Women’s Day. They will speak on the continuing challenges of achieving gender equality and how the private sector can contribute to achieve this end.
“HoSE is proud to be participating in this meaningful event advocating gender diversity,” said Tran Van Dzung, HoSE board chairman. “Global statistics show businesses outperform with women, and investors are increasingly looking to invest in companies that incorporate sustainable investment strategies and promote diverse leadership.”
IFC works with companies in developing countries to generate opportunities for women while also contributing to companies’ bottom lines, productivity, and growth. By leveraging relationship with about 1,000 financial institutions and private equity funds, IFC helps expand access to finance for women entrepreneurs.
“At IFC, we believe gender equality is central to driving the global economy and the private sector has an important role to play in this,” said Kyle Kelhofer, IFC Country Manager for Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR. “Specifically, the presence of women on boards and in leadership positions has a positive impact on financial performance, shareholder value and sustainability.”
Currently, close to 30 per cent of directors nominated by IFC on the boards of its investee companies are women.
Now in its third iteration, “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” focuses on raising awareness on the business case for women’s economic empowerment and the opportunities for the private sector to advance gender equality, which is a key UN Sustainable Development Goal. The event is a partnership of IFC, the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, the UN Global Compact, UN Women, Women in ETFs, and the World Federation of Stock Exchanges.
IFC, in partnership with Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), is helping Vietnam companies put in place good corporate governance practices by raising awareness, building capacity, developing guidelines, and providing firm-level advisory services.
