May 13, 2013; Issue No. CCVIII


Issue No. CCVIII; May 13, 2013
SPECIAL EDITION: GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN 2013


SEE WHO’S COMING TO THE 2013 SUMMIT IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA – JUNE 6-8, 2013

From Australia to Brazil to France to South Africa, 1,000 women from 72 countries are converging in Kuala Lumpur for the 2013 Global Summit of Women.  Now less than 1 month away, women business, government and entrepreneurial leaders from around the globe are making their final preparations to take part in the June 6-8th global gathering being hosted by Malaysia.  Coming together under the theme “Women — Creating New Economies,” delegates continue the Summit’s focus on business, and some are exploring market opportunities through BtoB meetings being organized by Malaysia’s Ministry of International Trade, while others are looking to personal and organizational alliances.  Many are looking to widen their economic knowledge base or to enhance their skills.  Here is a sampling of topics to be covered at the Summit and the experts invited to lead these sessions.

Doing Business in the Asia-Pacific Region: Do’s and Don’t’s:
           While Malaysia’s Minister of International Trade will present on “Doing Business with Malaysia” the day before the Summit begins on June 6th, a session focusing on the “Do’s and Don’t’s” of how to conduct such business in the Asia-Pacific region will provide practical advice forged from experience on June 7th.   A stellar cast of experts will share perspectives from different parts of the region.

Dato’ Sri Mustapa Bin Mohamed, Malaysian Minister for International Trade and Industry will present on “Doing Business with Malaysia.  Presenting on the session on the “Do’s and Don’t’s” of Doing Business in the region are Anna Wu, a member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong SAR; Sarah Casanova, Managing Director of McDonald’s Malaysia and Singapore; Aurora “Boots” Geotina-Garcia, who is the President of Ciba Capital Philippines; and Sarah Maraghy, Regional Vice President, South Asia, for Lockheed Martin

Opening this sought-after session is the Honorable Anna Wu, a member of the Executive Council of Hong Kong SAR, who brings to this topic both a business and regulatory perspective.  Currently a Member of Hong Kong’s Executive Council, she also serves as Chair of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority, which regulates pension funds.  Recently, she was named as Chair of new agency, the Competition Commission, whose mandate is to break up monopolies and prevent anti-competitive business practices.  Providing perspective on leading a major multinational corporation’s operations in the region is Sarah Casanova, Managing Director of McDonald’s Malaysia and Singapore.  She brings added experience from another country, Japan, in a prior role as Senior Vice President for McDonald’s Japan responsible for marketing and new business strategies

From the business advisory and corporate finance services industry comes Aurora “Boots” Geotina-Garcia, who is the President of Ciba Capital Philippines.  A consultant to business and government for over 30 years in the area of corporate finance, Ms. Geotina-Garcia has advised clients on capital markets issues such as market development and identifying funding, among other issues.  Also joining the panel is Sarah Maraghy, Regional Vice President, South Asia, for Lockheed Martin.  Ms. Maraghy’s responsibility includes corporate business development in Australia, ASEAN nations, India, and New Zealand.     In her position, she works to build partnership programs in the government marketplace focused on the defense, security, and intelligence fields.


Opening Up Enterprise Funding Through Technology:

Crowd-funding, a technique that allows the average person to raise funds for his or her projects through a composite of smaller donations as opposed to trying to appeal to a single investor, has exploded in recent years on the web.  In doing so, it has offered new  entrepreneurs all over the world a chance to raise start-up funds in order to grow their ideas into full-fledged businesses.  The 2013 Global Summit of Women will look at this innovative use of the Internet to raise funds for enterprises ranging from micro to SMEs.

UN Foundation Senior Fellow Mayra Buvinic, Kiva.org Portfolio Manager Joanna Gan. and pitchIN Malaysia Co-Founder Sam Shafie will discuss “Opening Up Enterprise Funding Through Technology”.

Before looking into new funding sources, however, Mayra Buvinic, Senior Fellow with the UN Foundation, will open the session by providing the findings of a new UN Foundation report which looked into what has worked and what hasn’t in terms of financing strategies for SMEs as well as what practices would be more effective in helping women create and sustain enterprises of all sizes.  Previously serving in senior roles at the InterAmeican Development Bank and the World Bank, she is conversant with the full gamut of enterprise funding.

The leader in the new Internet-based microcredit is Kiva.org, which has given out $408,326,900 in microloans from 826,000 donors, some of whom give as little as $25.00.  Based in San Francisco, the story of this 8-year-old groundbreaking nonprofit will be presented by Joanne Gan, Portfolio Manager for Southeast Asia and the Pacific.  A former corporate credit analyst, Ms. Gan will share what Kiva.org has been able to do in sourcing global funding from small to large donors as a way of alleviating poverty by supporting enterprise funding.

Providing the Malaysian experience on the panel is Sam Shafie, a co-Founder of Malaysia’s first crowd-funding platform, PitchIN, which focuses on raising funds through the Internet for creative and design projects.  A former Deputy Public Prosecutor in the Attorney General’s Office who has also founded several tech companies, Mr. Shafie and his co-founders wanted to support start-up businesses in animation, film, books and design – the Malaysian version of US-based Kickstarter – which often have a hard time in securing funding from banks.


Marketing Yourself Internally and Externally

Most women think that hard work alone will get them recognized and promoted, but what they don’t realize is that their work must be made visible to those in charge.  In a Summit session aimed at providing delegates with the practical tools for getting ahead in their corporation or industry, executives from major multinational companies will share tips on enhancing your business profile.

Sharing practical tools for getting ahead are former Vice President for Marketing Development Marilyn Johnson, Senior Vice President for Global Diversity and Inclusion for PepsiCo Pamela Culpepper, and Corporate Vice President for Communications for Arcos Dorados Flavia Vigio.

Opening the panel is Marilyn Johnson, the former Vice President, Market Development for IBM, where she was responsible for developing the company’s strategy for marketing to women-owned businesses around the world as well as minority customers in the U.S.  A long-time IBM veteran who moved up the ranks, she has also gained external recognition from media and business organizations, an experience she brings to this topic.

Joining her on the panel is Pamela Culpepper, Senior Vice President for Global Diversity and Inclusion for PepsiCo.  A 13-year Pepsico veteran, Ms. Culpepper works to bring nearly 300,000 diverse voices and cultures in Pepsico’s workforce to work together harmoniously as well as identify and promote development of internal talent spread out globally.  Providing a Latin American perspective in this session is Flavia Vigio, who is Corporate Vice President for Communications with Arcos Dorados of McDonald’s Latin America.  Based in Brazil, Ms. Vigio will offer tips for what external relations business and professional women can establish to enhance their internal profile.


BE A PART OF THE FOREMOST GLOBAL ECONOMIC FORUM FOR
WOMEN IN BUSINESS, GOVERNMENT AND CIVIL SOCIETY 

JOIN THE 2013 GLOBAL SUMMIT OF WOMEN
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA
JUNE 6-8, 2013

REGISTER ONLINE AT:

http://www.globewomen.org/summit/summitregistration2013.htm


Kuala Lumpur, site of the 2013 Global Summit of Women

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