Asia-Pacific business leaders unite to advance gender equality at UN Women Forum

[Press Release]

The regional Forum held under the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) convened leaders across the business ecosystem to advance gender equality as a driver of sustainable and inclusive growth across the region’s private sector.

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — More than 200 business leaders, entrepreneurs, capital market participants and policymakers from 15 countries have agreed to speed up collective efforts to turn gender equality commitments into action as they concluded the 2025 UN Women Asia-Pacific Women’s Empowerment Principles Forum.

The November 18-19 event, themed “Business. Innovation. Impact.”, was organized by UN Women with support from two major regional projects on women’s economic empowerment funded by the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and run by UN Women – the Gender Action Lab and WE RISE Together. It was also supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Talent Corporation Malaysia Berhad, a government agency.

“The 2025 Asia-Pacific WEPs Forum brought together remarkable leaders and innovators committed to advancing gender equality in the workplace, marketplace and communities” said Danielle Heinecke, Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia. “Australia is proud to support the Women’s Empowerment Principles across the region through targeted programmes. Together we are shaping economic systems that work for women - in all their diversity - and the progress showcased at this year’s Forum give us great confidence for what we can achieve together.”

The Asia and Pacific region has made notable gains in gender equality, and more than 3,000 companies in the region have committed to the Women’s Empowerment Principles, established by UN Women and United Nations Global Compact to guide companies to improve conditions for women workers. 
Yet, women’s labour force participation remains stagnant and gender gaps persist across workplaces marketplaces and capital markets. 

The participants at the forum discussed:

• how megatrends like artificial intelligence, demographic shifts and green transitions are reshaping the world of work and women’s participation in it.

“Business, innovation and impact are no longer separate conversations,” said Katja Freiwald, UN Women’s Regional Lead for Women’s Economic Empowerment in Asia and the Pacific. “Across Asia, business leaders are showing what real progress looks like, using innovation to advance women’s empowerment and gender equality. This is where the region’s strength lies -- turning equality into an engine for inclusive and sustainable growth.”

• how family-friendly policies, inclusive leadership and holistic approaches to building workplaces can empower women from corporate offices to factory floors.

Forum participants discussed innovations such as those piloted through the Women’s Empowerment Principles Corporate Action Lab under UN Women’s Gender Action Lab. In Malaysia, TalentCorp, a key project partner, works with 11 companies to co-design and scale workplace policies that promote care, flexibility and women’s leadership. The project also works in Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia.

YB Wong Shu Qi, Chairperson of TalentCorp, emphasised Malaysia’s ongoing progress. “This Forum reflects Malaysia’s commitment to ensuring women are equal partners in economic development. When women are empowered, families and communities grow stronger,” she said. She highlighted the importance of public–private collaboration in meeting Malaysia’s 60 per cent female labour participation target by 2030, noting that family-friendly policies and equal opportunities are essential for women to thrive.

• how to increase women’s participation in the economies of the Mekong Subregion. 
  
  WE RISE Together gathered partners from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam to officially launch Phase II of the project. Business leaders and policymakers agreed to join forces to open public and private procurement opportunities for women entrepreneurs, including women with disabilities, and to strengthen the ecosystem so women-owned businesses can compete and thrive through inclusive procurement.
• how to transform systems.

The Asia-Pacific Sustainable Finance Systems Lab was launched at the forum in partnership with IFC and with the support of the Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative and the World Federation of Exchanges. This first-of-its-kind, action-driven platform under UN Women’s Regional System Labs will convene leaders from regional stock exchanges and regulators to accelerate efforts to build more inclusive and gender-responsive capital markets.

“Women still face barriers that prevent them from unlocking their full economic potential,” said Judith Green, World Bank Group Country Manager for Malaysia. “This is a missed opportunity, and stock exchanges can drive change in a way that few others can. They influence markets, they connect policymakers, investors, and businesses to support sustainable development practices, and they play a critical role in rallying the private sector to increase women’s participation in business, which is essential to fostering more prosperous societies.”