APEC women’s forum at Ewha

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APEC women’s forum at Ewha

More than three hundred female university students, mostly from Ewha Womans University’s School of Business, gathered at the Lee Sangbong Hall of the university Friday to participate in the first APEC Business Advisory Council Women’s Forum, hoping to get some tips on becoming successful entrepreneurs.

The forum was organized by female members of the APEC Business Advisory Council to promote a business spirit among young women in APEC countries and highlight the role of women in international business.

“It is an honor for Ewha Womans University’s School of Business to be nominated as the venue for the first women’s forum,” said Park Kyung-hee, dean of the Department of Business Administration. “Through this forum we look forward to sharing the experience of women leaders around the world and exchanging ideas about policies to make the life of women better in the Asia-Pacific region.”

Two guest speakers included Cher Wang, President of Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp., and Deb Henretta, president of Procter & Gamble Asia. “Don’t be afraid to dream big,” Wang told participants. “Business always starts with a vision.”

Wang went on to tell stories from her career.

“When I was younger, my job involved carrying a very heavy laptop around Europe,” she said. “I had to lug this heavy machine up and down the stairs, on and off trains, and I got exhausted.”

Wang said HTC began with a simple stray thought. “I started daydreaming in the train of a computer so small that I could carry it in one hand, a computer that could organize your schedules and also be used as a phone,” she said. “It was only a dream in the beginning but this dream developed into a mission. And after meeting people who shared the same vision, we started HTC and realized the vision.”

Henretta stressed the importance of balancing one’s life as a business leader, a wife and a mother, and she counseled the young women to “avoid perfectionism.”

“I can assure you there’s no superwoman in my life,” said Henretta. “So many people strive to be perfect. But in the process of trying to be perfect, you can get overwhelmed with the details.”

Henretta advised students not to “try to do it all, but do it well.”

“My grandmother used to tell me, ‘The art of being wise is knowing what to overlook,’” added Henretta.

A round-table mentoring session, in which each speaker had a discussion with five to six business school students, followed the forum.


By Yim Seung-hye [sharon@joongang.co.kr]


한글 관련 기사 [연합]

이대, APEC 경제인자문위 여성포럼 개최

이화여대는 29일 아시아태평양경제협력체(APEC)의 기업인 자문기구 `ABAC(APEC Business Advisory Council)`와 함께 `제1회 ABAC 여성포럼 - 여성과 비즈니스`를 개최한다고 28일 밝혔다.

29일 오후 2시부터 이대 ECC홀에서 열리는 이 포럼은 APEC에서 여성 경제인구에 대한 관심을 이끌어내고 비즈니스 분야에서 여성의 역할을 재조명하기 위해 ABAC의 여성 위원들이 중심이 돼 기획했다.

여성 CEO 중에서 대만 HTC사(社)의 창업자인 처 왕(Cher Wang) 회장, 올해 ABAC 의장을 맡은 뎁 헨레타 P&G 아시아그룹 대표가 포럼에 참석해 `여성과 비즈니스 - 변화와 기회들`을 주제로 강연한다.

이들은 강연을 마친 뒤 경영학을 전공한 이대생, 현직에 있는 졸업생 등 총 21명과 소규모 그룹으로 만나 멘토링을 해줄 예정이다.

한편 이대는 포럼을 주관하는 ABAC가 여성 기업가들의 삶에 혁신적인 변화를 불러일으킨 기관이나 개인을 선정하는 `집중조명(spotlight)`의 첫 대상으로 뽑혔다고 전했다.

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