Succès des femmes commerçantes à Mexico (en)

Twelve deals signed during opening ceremony of Women Vendors Forum Exhibition
Women vendors and entrepreneurs were today the focus of attention at Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the opening of the Women Vendors Forum and Exhibition 2012.

More than 350 delegates are attending the event, which seeks to link up women vendors with buyers. Of the 48 countries represented, 39 are developing countries of least developed countries. There are 147 sellers, 45 buyers and 17 trade support institutions attending the event. The Women Vendors Forum and Exhibition will conclude tomorrow.

Opening the event, Ms. Patricia Francis, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre said: “Those numbers suggest to me that the prospects for doing business are promising. The Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum is part of a ten-year strategy, which aims to increase the share of corporate, government and institutional procurement: won by women, for the benefit of women, for their families and for their communities.”

US-based Full Circle Exchange signed four deals this morning covering the textile and jewellery sectors. Meanwhile, Been There Coffee Company, which is based in South Africa, and BDImports signed two deals each two buy green coffee.
Mr. Nathán Wolf, Director-General for Cooperation and International Economic Promotion at Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that the Government of Mexico “recognizes that investing in women entrepreneurs has important benefits for the building of stronger, more stable and more sustainable communities”.

“The Women Vendors Forum and Exhibition 2012 is a huge opportunity to continue working together in the consolidation and internationalization of small and medium-sized women entrepreneurs, by incorporating them in the supply chains of global firms,” he said.

Carlos Casas, Head of Export Promotion at ProMexico, said: “The matchmaking sessions will allow delegates to explore opportunities between buyers and sellers…and I am sure these will be seeds that will grow into good and profitable relations.”

A full list of deals done during the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum 2012 will be announced at a press conference 15:15 CST, 6 November, at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum is organized by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in cooperation with Mexcio’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ProMéxico and WEConnect Interanational.

Organizing partners: Asociación Mexicana de Mujeres Empresarias (AMMJE), the International Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPW), Vital Voices Global Partnership, the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA), Full Circle Exchange, the Women’s International Textile Alliance (SPINNA) and Quantum Leaps

ITC is the joint agency of the World Trade Organization and the United Nations, and is devoted to helping small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries become more competitive in global markets and thus to speed up sustainable economic development and contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals.

For further information, visit: www.intracen.org/projects/women-and-trade/events/wvef-II/

Interview requests: Jarle Hetland, Hetland [at] intracen.org, +41 79 221 8980 +41 22 733 4439