BRICS WBA Hosts 2024 BRICS Women’s Leadership Forum

On June 11, 2024, the BRICS Women’s Leadership Form was held in Beijing under the slogan “Diversity and Shared Prosperity.” The Forum was organized by BRICS WBA China Chapter. The forum has been held annually since 2022.

A delegation from the Russian side led by Anna Nesterova, Global Chairperson of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance, took part in the Forum.

The opening ceremony of the Forum was attended by Ren Hongbin, Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Huang Xiaowei, Vice President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women’s Federation, Vice Chairperson of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council, Siyabonga Cyprian Cwele, Ambassador of Republic of South Africa to the People’s Republic of China, Assem Hanafi, Ambassador of the Arab Republic of Egypt to China, Natalia Stepkina, Minister Counsellor of Embassy of the Russian Federation in the People’s Republic of China, Abolfazl Olamaei Far, Head of Mission of Embassy of the I.R. of Iran, Munteha Jemal, Plenipotentiary Minister of Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Zhao Haiying, Chairperson of BRICS WBA China Chapter, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer of China Investment Corporation (CIC), Anna Nesterova, Global Chairperson of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance.

Ren Hongbin, Chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, stated that economic and trade cooperation between the BRICS countries has great potential. He proposed combining two platforms – the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance and the BRICS Women’s Leadership Forum – to promote South-South cooperation among emerging market and developing countries, as well as to achieve common goals.

Huang Xiaowei, Vice President and First Member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women’s Federation, emphasized that the joint development of the BRICS countries is inseparable from the participation and contribution of women, and China, in turn, always has been a staunch supporter and activist for women empowerment and development.

Natalia Stepkina, Minister Counsellor of Embassy of the Russian Federation in the People’s Republic of China, during her speech noted that BRICS is now becoming an increasingly sought-after stabilizing factor for the global economy, which is not surprising, given the place and role of BRICS in global processes: “Great importance is attached to the work of the BRICS women’s agenda in order to expand access to education and professional development, digital technologies and increase practical cooperation in general. The BRICS Women’s Business Alliance makes its contribution to the effective solution of these problems. Today women play an important creative role in all areas of life – politics, economics, science, culture, education.”

Zhao Haiying, Chairperson of BRICS WBA China Chapter, Executive Vice President, Chief Strategy Officer of China Investment Corporation (CIC), said that the expanded BRICS format has strong economic complementarity and great cooperation potential, which can open up new business opportunities. Zhao Haiying summed up the work of the Chinese part since the creation of the Alliance, in particular, the BRICS Women’s Development Report has been published for three years. Starting from 2022, the BRICS Women’s Leadership Forum is held annually, on the sidelines of which business and cultural events are held for women entrepreneurs from the BRICS countries.

Anna Nesterova, Global Chairperson of the BRICS Women’s Business Alliance, emphasized that the share of women in the BRICS countries is 23% of the total number of entrepreneurs. The BRICS Women’s Business Alliance aims to increase the share of women entrepreneurs from 23% to 50% in the BRICS countries. The Global Chairperson also noted that from June 2 to 4, the BRICS Women’s Entrepreneurship Forum was held in Moscow, at which the official launch of the Common BRICS WBA Digital Platform took place and the BRICS Women’s Startups Contest was launched. The platform will serve as a common information and communication hub that will help ensure the smooth integration of representatives of new countries into the work of the Alliance. In turn, the BRICS Women’s Startups Contest is aimed at attracting attention to women’s startups and supporting women entrepreneurs from the BRICS countries.

Three panel sessions were held within the Forum, including discussion participants discussing how to tackle economic challenges in the era of global transformation, what innovative solutions to use in business, as well as how to promote cultural exchanges and mutual learning in BRICS.

In addition, on the sidelines of the Forum, a series of meetings were held with representatives of Chinese business and public circles, at which representatives of the BRICS countries discussed the possibility of building further cooperation.

The BRICS Women’s Leadership Forum ended with a gala dinner.