More than 60 business deals concluded at Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum

Delegates attending the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum 2012 in Mexico City had struck more than 60 business deals as the event held at Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs drew to a close on Wednesday 7 November. The deals have a total value of more than US$6 million. Many more deals are set to be concluded in the coming days and weeks as buyers and sellers continue bilateral negotiations.

Ms. Patricia Francis, Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (ITC), said: “This has been another strong Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum. There has been a high attendance and the number of deals struck already, shows the importance of women vendors and buyers to come together at this event.”

Nearly 150 sellers and some 40 buyers from multinational and medium-sized enterprises were among the more than 300 delegates attending the Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum 2012, alongside officials from governments and trade support institutions.

“The women vendors and the companies who attended this year’s Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum are setting examples for others to follow,” said Ms. Francis. “They have shown how important it is to move out of your comfort zone to seek and achieve success. They have also taken steps to ensure that more women-owned businesses are connected into the global value chains,” she said.

The Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum 2012 is organized by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in cooperation with Mexico’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, ProMéxico and WEConnect International.

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/

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