Gender equality in the workplace needed for business breakthroughs: Expert

Hanoi (VNA) - Gender equality at the workplace needs to be recognised as one of the drivers of long-term growth and breakthroughs for businesses, especially as Vietnam has a high proportion of women in the labour market, according to Nguyen Quang Vinh, General Secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

Vinh made the statement at a workshop on March 15 in Hanoi held jointly by the Vietnam Business Coalition for Women’s Empowerment (VBCWE), funded by the Australian Government’s Investing in Women initiative, and the VCCI’s Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD).

Participants focused discussions on the importance of promoting equal values and increasing the leading role of women in the sustainable development strategies of businesses.

They also reviewed a number of measures to promote gender equality, including Gender Equality Assessment, Results, and Strategies (GEARS) - a regional-level diagnostic tool developed by Investing in Women in partnership with the Australian Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) to help businesses understand gaps, opportunities, and strengths in their current strategies in relation to workplace gender equality.

Andrew Barnes, Australian Deputy Ambassador to Vietnam, said that in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies with diverse leadership and a strong commitment to gender equality in the workplace have demonstrated better adaptability and innovation, thereby creating higher productivity and profit.

GEARS-based analytical data will help enterprises review gender balance and labour mobility trends, he said, adding that businesses can also evaluate their gender equality policy and its implementation compared with other leading companies.

Chairwoman of VBCWE Ha Thu Thanh said that increasing the role of women in the leadership apparatus will help businesses steadily overcome the pandemic crisis and make breakthroughs.

Representatives from enterprises shared their policies, strategies, and experience in applying evaluation tools to promote gender values in the workplace.

The VBCWE and VBCSD signed a cooperation agreement at the workshop, affirming the two sides’ commitment to promoting gender equality and increasing women’s economic rights in Vietnam’s business community.

The Investing in Women project was initiated by the Australian Government in 2016 in Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines, and Vietnam, to increase women’s involvement in the workforce and leadership apparatus, and to raise their voice in decision making./.