Maersk has made a public commitment to empower women in trade, in signing a significant agreement with SheTrades Global.
Anita de Werd, Global Head Marketing and Business Development for Damco International, signed the memorandum of understanding on behalf of Maersk, on stage at the SheTrades Global event in Liverpool on Thursday 29 June.
The SheTrades initiative was launched in 2015 by the International Trade Centre, a multilateral agency linked with the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the United Nations (UN).
The ITC reports that corporations struggle to increase the participation of women entrepreneurs in their supply chains because of the difficulty identifying suitable companies to engage with as potential suppliers. The SheTrades initiative seeks to connect one million women entrepreneurs to the global market by 2020.
The MOU means that Maersk will contribute to building the capacity of the more than 10,000 female entrepreneurs who are members of the SheTrades network on https://shetrades.com.
Anita de Werd said: “It is a real honour to have signed this important agreement today. Empowering women is vital for truly inclusive trade. It creates growth, jobs and opportunity for all. Diversity and inclusion are key priorities for Maersk and should also guide us in how we enable trade.”
“Our expertise in global transportation and supply chains will be invaluable to thousands of female-led businesses worldwide. We are extremely proud to be part of the SheTrades initiative.”
More than 500 women-owned businesses from across the world participated in the SheTrades Global event, in search of new trade and investment opportunities.
