Tokyo Stock Exchange Market Open
May 10, 2017
Forty women board directors and executives led by Corporate Women Directors International (CWDI) President Irene Natividad opened the stock market of Tokyo Stock Exchange, a subsidiary of Japan Exchange Group (JPX), on May 10, 2017 to salute Japan’s hosting of the 2017 Global Summit of Women. JPX CEO Akira Kiyota welcomed the women participating in ringing the opening bell and stated “ It is a great honor for JPX to be able to welcome this group of world-class leaders working towards the advancement of women around the globe. I can once again firmly assert that we must create a society where women can shine.”
Joining Natividad for the Market Open were women CEOs and executives, including Noriko Nakamura, CEO of Poppins and Chair, Host Committee for GSW2017; Sakie Fukushima, Board Director of Ajinomoto, Bridgestone and J.Front Retailing.; Denise Rutherford, CEO of 3M Japan; Debra Hazelton, General Manager at Mizuho Bank; Miyuki Suzuki, CEO of Cisco Japan; Kathy Matsui, Vice Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan among other leaders of Japanese companies. Participating from abroad were Ilona Weiss, CEO of ABC Data Inc. (Poland); Ilka Friese, Managing Director & CFO of NTT Data Germany; Muriel Penicaud, CEO of Business France and Ambassador for International Investment (France); Melissa Yang, Founder of Yujia (China’s Air BnB); Delia Domingo-Albert, Senior Adviser at EY Philippines and former Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Denise Evans, Vice President of Global Markets for IBM (USA), and others from countries represented at the Summit.
Natividad adds: “It’s important that women are seen as part of business traditions such as the ringing of the opening bell in stock exchanges. Bringing women from throughout the world to this ceremony illustrates the extent of women’s global business leadership and Japan’s important role in the global economy.”
CWDI Chair Irene Natividad and JPX CEO Akira Kiyota at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Market Open.