Taiwan joins U.S.' women's economic empowerment initiative

Washington, Aug. 6 (CNA) Taiwan will help support a United States project called the 2X Women's Initiative, which is aimed at tackling the economic challenges faced by women in developing countries, Taiwan's top envoy in Washington said Thursday.

"Taiwan will support training programs under the 2X initiative, which seeks to advance women's economic empowerment and nurture the full potential of women as contributors to equitable growth and sustainable development in their communities," said Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴), Taiwan's new representative to the U.S., in a release on the website of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office in the United States (TECRO).

In a release made the same day, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) said it welcomed Taiwan's sponsorship of a new US$350,000 partnership to support women's entrepreneurship and advance gender-smart investments in developing countries.

"Under the new collaboration, DFC and Taiwan counterparts will first work with private sector partners to design and conduct two training programs geared towards investment officers, women entrepreneurs, and other key stakeholders to share experiences and best practices related to investing with a gender lens and developing strong gender strategies," the DFC said on its website.

Meanwhile, TECRO, which is headed by Hsiao, said Taiwan has been working with the DFC over the past year to encourage female owners of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Paraguay and help women in Asian countries build more sustainable livelihoods.

The 2X Women's Initiative, part of the White House's Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative, is run by the DFC, the U.S. federal government development bank that partners with the private sector to finance solutions to major challenges in developing countries throughout the world.