Emerging Markets

Last updated on 15 Aug 2024

27 Feb 2023 . 13 min read

Daniela Santos

Daniela Santos is the Marketing Assistant at Trade Finance Global (TFG). She holds a BA in Politics and Economics from the University of Leicester and an MSc in International Business and Politics from Queen Mary, University of London.

Content

Women in Trade – All categories

African Trade Associations Banking & Fls Emerging Markets Export Credit Agencies Insurance International Trade Legal Payments and Treasury Sustainability & ESG Trade Policy Women in Trade 2023

Women in trade, treasury and payments – banking & fi’s

What does embracing equity mean to you, and how do you embrace that in your life and career?

As a mum of two, one of most frequent phrases I hear from my kids when their sibling gets something they don’t have is – “That’s not fair!” One thing we’ve tried to establish over the years is that fair does not mean equal. As parents, our goal is to give each of our kids what they need to feel safe, grow, and thrive. This may include different opportunities and responsibilities, but in the end, aim to achieve the same goal.

As an individual navigating a career, I embrace equity by seeking out opportunities that challenge me but also leverage off my strengths at a time where I feel ready to take them on.

Likewise, as leaders, we need to acknowledge that people have diverse lived experiences and give them the appropriate tools and resources to succeed. Only then can we truly strive for a fair and equitable workplace.

ASEAN countries have a higher percentage of women in executive level positions, in your opinion, why is this region further ahead than the rest of the world? Was this a conscious decision, or was it something that was already built into the culture?

I believe this is partly cultural and partly structural. Cultural because typically Asian cultures have close knit family units that often include the extended family. This access to the proverbial “village” that is needed to raise a family, creates a network of support for working women that is so crucial to their success in the workplace. Also, the prevalence of dependable and affordable domestic support in these countries means women have the ability to pursue their careers while they are assured of reliable and often flexible domestic support. We need to embrace the fact that many women want to have both – a family life and a thriving career. And the availability of strong support systems helps women achieve these.

How can the trade and supply chain finance industry improve when it comes to workplace equity? What has been the biggest improvement, and what still needs to do better?

I believe the industry has made great strides on this front in the last 10 years. The sheer number of women leaders as well as fresh talent entering the industry has been so encouraging. But there is always more that can be done; for example, flexible working conditions are still the exception rather than the norm, more transparency and data are needed regarding the gender pay gap, etc. One aspect that needs improvement is that, as an industry, we need to start doing more to mainstream gender in our day-to-day business activities. Be it trade finance, shipping, or insurance, how can we ensure our services are provided to more women? We know women-owned businesses are undercapitalised and often underestimated, but we also know there is a proven business case for investing in women, and we need to accelerate that in trade and supply chains!

Sophea Om, Acleda Bank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

I believe that society with greater gender equality are more connected. They think together, work together and take responsibility together for better prosperity and sustainability. Also, in this digital era, woman can contribute to the greater gender equality – they can be entrepreneurs and leaders, participate in labour force, and get higher education. I believe that women could transform their wisdom, their strategies, their expertise, and their persistence to push forward in equal foot with men.

Aparna Soni Bhalla, Asian Development Bank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

Equity, as opposed to equality, does not start with a race where everyone gets the same sized shoes. It is a race where everyone gets shoes that fit them appropriately.

Embracing equity means identifying inequalities and ensuring fairness by distributing resources in such a manner that everyone gets the same opportunity to succeed. This requires a shift from creating homogeneity, to one that values and respects individual differences.

Embracing equity to me means recognising and addressing existing inequalities and biases in society and at work, towards creating a more inclusive society.

To truly embrace equity, it is important to identify inequity, be vocal and advocate for fairness and inclusiveness, while also taking collective responsibility to eliminate biases.

This is an ongoing process, and the onus is on all members of society, irrespective of gender, to work together and create a fair and inclusive society where everyone has the same opportunity to succeed.

Firuza Hotamova, Bank Eskhata

What does embrace equity mean to you?

Justice is the correct behaviour of a person, his actions, thoughts and words that correspond to the truth. This is the expected result of one who lives with justice.

Justice is very important in human life, every day, every time, every moment and everywhere. Every person should try to embrace equity with pleasure and me as well. Every person tries to be honest, frankly acts generally but not always one will be successful. The circumstances, facts, action, behaviour, and many such points will be able to affect a person who will face inequity, breach of justice, dishonesty and fake.

As for me, my parents tried to raise the right person—true, kind, social, and very sensitive.

All my life, I have been trying my best to support, assist, and help everyone. During my working hours, I feel my colleagues are very polite, kind, and supportive. Many people of our city know the staff of Bank Eskhata as being a very friendly team.

Bank Eskhata’s mission:

Care:

We are committed to excellence through the care of all our partners – the shareholders, the colleagues and the employees, the customers and the regulators, the community and our habitat.

Integrity and Professionalism:

In our work, we are governed by the principles of Integrity, Transparency and Professionalism.

Reliability:

To us, being a reliable partner means that our values and integrity come before immediate profit.

Argjenta Islami, BPB Bank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

For me, embracing equity means recognising and valuing the unique experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives of all individuals, and ensuring that everyone has equal access to opportunities and resources to achieve their full potential. In fact, this kind of equity is essential for creating a fair and just society. It is not only a moral imperative, but it also benefits everyone by promoting greater social cohesion, innovation, and productivity. In this way, we would create a society in which every individual would have the opportunity to reach their full potential and contribute to the common good.

On International Women’s Day, we should celebrate the progress that has been made towards gender equity, but also recognise that there is still much work to be done.

Let us continue to advocate for initiatives that promote gender equality and empower women to reach their full potential outcomes in all aspects of life, including education, employment, healthcare, and representation in general.

Epsita Bhowmik, Eastern Bank Limited

What does embrace equity mean to you?

I was raised in a joint-family, which is a very common thing in South Asian countries. While growing up, I had the same opportunities and faced the same challenges as other kids of my family did. So, the concept of ‘equity’ was never even a talked about topic in my family. I learnt about it only when I stepped into the outside world. So for me, equity is still what I learnt from my family. It means providing every individual with the same opportunities and resources with a belief that to produce an effective result the only variable under a given circumstance will be an individual’s competence and ability to perform.

I strongly believe each individual should be respected equally and we all should be promoting a culture of inclusivity. If we are talking about embracing equity in work space, for me it simply means creating a work environment

where each person irrespective of gender, race, nationality and age is valued fairly, and is given equal opportunities to participate, without any form of oppression or discrimination. As women, we still have a long way to go to achieve equity in society. To embrace equity in international trade and finance, it is essential to provide women with equal access to education and training, mentorship and networking opportunities, and leadership positions.

Sehba Mansoor, Habib Metropolitan Bank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

Equity is a fundamental human right that is to be upheld in all aspects of society including the workplace. There is a pressing need to ensure that individuals are not discriminated based on their gender, race, ethnicity, or religion. This is a moral imperative and business necessity. As companies value diversity and foster an inclusive workplace, they are more likely to attract and retain top talent, enhance creativity, innovation and improve bottom line. Luckily, I am associated with HMB, who are extremely focused in hiring the right candidates for the right position to demonstrate improvements in making the workforce more diverse, equitable with a conducive environment for all.

Rozanne de Almeida, Hatton National Bank PLC

What does embrace equity mean to you?

In an ever changing world, embracing equity is very important so that we give every human being a fair chance to excel and thereby promote inclusiveness.

The world is finally realising the importance of affording a fair chance to everyone to voice their opinions, and to bring out their best, but there is much more room for improvement. If we all come to terms with embracing equity without barriers, be it nationality, gender, religion, caste or creed, it’s only then that we will be able accept each other for what we are and to respect and value each-others opinions.

For me personally, embracing equity means creating a pathway for everyone to have fair access to what they deserve.

I am a successful professional banker today because my employers gave me a very fair chance to perform, and they lifted me onto the pedestal I deserved, immaterial of my gender or anything else.

At the same time, equity should also not be exploited in the form of charity or welfare. Instead, equity should be looked at with dignity, so that the achiever will optimise satisfaction with “self-respect.”

Nargiza Sattarova, Ipak Yuli Bank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

To quote the famous Armenian novelist and activist of the early 20th century, Zabel Yesayan, “Women are not born into this world to be pleasing to everyone. A woman is born to develop her mental, moral and physical abilities”.

Embrace equity is to ensure that there are equal conditions for women and men to enjoy all human rights and opportunities to participate in political, economic, social and cultural development, as well as equal use of its results. They can be generated not only by gender differences, but also by age, race, nationality, and religious beliefs. The gender concept of social progress implies a public and state view of life of both genders as equal, a balance of opportunities for their development, overcoming all forms of historical

injustice in relation to them and evaluation of their performance, ensuring conditions for self-development and self-expression of women and men as equal in rights, freedoms, duties and responsibilities.

Chynara Alybaeva, Optimabank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

The greatest of the Prophets said: “Keep justice among your children as you would like them to observe it towards you!”

When we #embraceEquity:

We make sure everyone feels supported and involved;
We are aware that our uniqueness leads to success;
We treat each other without discriminating against variations of characteristics such as gender, age, race, sexual orientation, etc what make people unique;
We give equal opportunities for people to form diversified teams.

This approach brings new and innovative ideas, unique perspectives and builds a successful society. A diverse environment requires eliminating unjustified distinctions between people and social classes. The main goal of an equal community is to work in harmony and understand the value of diversity. Therefore, it is important to raise awareness and respect each other.

A healthy and inclusive society is where everybody feels supported and accepted. In order to have a prosperous society, we need to embrace ourselves, embrace equity!

Tatiana Panciuc, OTP Bank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

#EmbraceEquity is about leveling the playing field by forging inclusive mindsets where we all can thrive in our differences. A workplace that is rooted in equity is free of discrimination and harmful stereotypes about women’s skills, work ethic, attitude, leadership abilities, or intellect.

Equity is centred on fair treatment, access, opportunities for advancement, emotional well-being, and feeling like you are growing in the organisation and that your achievements are celebrated. Women and girls need to feel empowered and encouraged to strive for more without fear, build their self-confidence, and speak up for themselves.

Women have a key role to play in business and sustainability,by bringing incredible insight and a much needed energy to the corporate world.

Gender equity is about removing barriers that stop people from reaching their full potential. Gender equality is not a women’s issue, it’s a human issue that affects us all. We can all play a role in forging gender parity. Women need to achieve equal space, equal voice, and equal worth.

Mahbuba Ashraf, Prime Bank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

From my perspective, true equity requires the recognition and appreciation of the unique experiences and perspective of each individual, regardless of their race, gender, age, religion or any other form of identity. Hence, I believe, embracing equity means fostering an environment that is free from discrimination and where everyone can contribute and thrive. In terms of the workplace, the essence of embracing equity starts by valuing diversity in all individuals who come from different backgrounds, with different abilities, mindsets, and ideas. The goal is to change systemic and structural barriers that get in the way of people’s ability to thrive. All in all, by embracing true equity we can create an environment where everyone feels respected and valued for who they are.

Jashia Tithi Chowdhury, Southeast Bank Limited

What does embrace equity mean to you?

#EmbraceEquity to me is an effort to eliminate the gender disparity from our society and our lives. As it is told so easily, it’s not only the hardest goal to achieve, but also a next-to-impossible task, since it clearly divides our society into two primitive sects, men and women.

From our very childhood, we learn to think in this primitive way, we grow up with this and finish our lives ignoring the wounds made by this primitivism. It takes an age to feel the inequity of this bias, since it runs through the society’s body like veinless hormones.

Equity in gender is all about breaking this bias. I believe it’s not about asking for equality for different genders, it’s about the equality of treatment for

everyone in their respective needs, rights and opportunities regardless of gender. It’s a sense of fairness, a social justice that can only be achieved through the broad thought process.

Women can play a vital role in channelising this thought process towards the goal of equity. I believe women are born to bond, women are genetically empowered to educate the future generation from the infancy. Women can embrace equity and run the sense of it through the veins of their children to make a bias free generation.

Women can spread this insight from their family to the workplace, because women believe in symbiosis, we believe in togetherness.

Here is to womanhood. Here is to being a woman.

Tamara Khaizanishvili, TBC Bank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

I am proud to be working at the company where 71% are women, more notably, women hold 41% of leadership positions and are a crucial part of TBC Bank’s development. As a woman leader, I unite 14 young professional women in my team and embrace their diversity. Over the years, I have participated in several women empowerment activities, the most recent event is the trade finance seminar for women entrepreneurs that I organised together with ADB. The seminar served as a platform for increasing awareness of trade finance products and improving the potential for trade and export.

I believe that we should no longer be asking questions about the importance of gender equity – it should be a part of our everyday life. A healthy society is one that embraces equity. Inclusivity should be a given, not an aspiration.

Each individual in society should play their part in actively supporting and embracing equity – to the best of our abilities. I take pride in the work I do, and I sincerely believe that within my sphere of influence I have a responsibility to teach and inspire others to embrace equity – because collective engagement can and will spark change.

Tran Bich Hanh, TPBank

What does embrace equity mean to you?

When it comes to Embracing Equity, I think a lot about the meaning of Gender Equality. For developing Asian countries that have gone through feudal history and preferred a deep conception of the need for sons to continue the family line and maintain the ancestor worship, Vietnam is not an exception. Although Article 9 of the 1946 Constitution of Vietnam states that “Women are equal to men in all respects”, gender equality has only been realistically paid more attention since the past decade. With the change of time, women have increasingly proved their important role in the family and achieved higher positions in society.

In Vietnam, our citizens always show respect and celebrate two great anniversaries for women, which are International Women’s Day March 8th, and

Vietnamese Women’s Day October 20th. Personally, I am a citizen born in Hanoi, the capital of Vietnam, and raised in an intellectual family, so I have not encountered any problems with gender inequality. However, by nature, women may also struggle to obtain the necessities of life than men when they are physically weaker, have to give birth and raise children while still need to earn money to build financial independence. And somewhere in Vietnam, the existence of gender inequality might still exist and creep into the nooks and crannies of families that maintain the antiquated thought from their ancestors. This is also profoundly reflected in the fact that many women do not receive inheritance rights like men, or that male babies are always more expected than female babies. Moreover, family responsibilities, housework, and raising children are indescribable burdens on the shoulders of women.

Therefore I always support and want to contribute to Gender Equality in Vietnam and worldwide in general. With my role as Head of FI, I have participated with TPBank in numerous women support programs of International organisations such as ADB, IFC, DEG…