To open the market and mark the start of the three-day Global Summit of Women 2022 in Bangkok, female business leaders rang the opening bell at the Stock Exchange of Thailand. The summit examines the importance of women in the private sector and sheds light on gender diversity and equality in Asia.
Irene Natividad, the chair of GlobeWomen Research and Education Institute and president of the Global Summit of Women, delivered the opening speech. She said the ceremony signals the significant contributions women have made to the economies of Thailand and beyond.
She cited a McKinsey study prior to the pandemic that found women's economic activities contributed to 39% of the global GDP.
OPTICS MATTER
"This market opening is the 23rd time we have rung an opening bell for the Global Summit of Women. This effort began in 2006 when I was invited to open the NASDAQ. In turn, I invited about 120 women corporate directors and senior executives to the stock exchange to open it with me," said Ms Natividad.
"I noted how excited the women were, and I realised this was their first time to open an exchange. I decided from then on, we would follow this format globally and have women leaders join us at every juncture. We are so proud the SET decided to provide us with this opportunity."
She said the significance of ringing the opening bell comes down to optics.
"How things look matters, and the image of women ringing the opening bell is very important, not just for those of us who are inside this room, but for those who follow us," said Ms Natividad.
"They must know that women need to be seen in these traditions, such as a market opening. Because if we are not here, it is as if we do not belong."
WOMEN ON BOARDS
She said her organisation researched the global percentage of female board directors and found Asia-Pacific companies still lag corporate leadership globally.
The percentage of female board directors serving Europe's largest companies remains higher than any other region at 36.9%. The lowest rate is in Asia-Pacific at 10.7%, resulting in a global average of 20.2% for female board representation in 2022.
"From 2004 when CWDI [Corporate Women Directors International] conducted its first study of female board directors on the Fortune Global 200 to today, the dramatic increase in female board appointments happened because of access to these leadership roles," said Ms Natividad.
"Change does not happen without pressure, whether from a quota, a stock exchange directive, institutional shareholders or women themselves."
She said part of the reason is because of the changed composition of the Fortune listing, where 91 Asia-Pacific companies now dominate the listing of the 200 largest, with China's 63 firms forming the majority, whose boards only have 8.9% women directors.
Among the companies with zero female directors, 26 are based in China.
The CWDI report surveyed women in senior officer roles among Fortune Global 200 companies and found only 17.6% in those positions.
The report found even the largest companies with maximum public exposure say it is more difficult to groom female candidates internally for corporate suites than to bring in women to fill board seats from outside.
"We need to work harder to improve the pipeline of women in senior officer roles because without a ready pool of board-ready women, parity on boards will be difficult to reach globally," said Ms Natividad.
Progress in placing women on boards is still being made, she said. The NASDAQ bourse recently asked listed companies to disclose their board composition and recommended at least two directors be women or members of minority groups.
There are 33 countries that have quotas for female directors, said Ms Natividad.
DARE TO TAKE RISKS
Kobkarn Wattanavrangkul, chairwoman of the board at Kasikornbank (KBank) and chairwoman of Toshiba (Thailand), stressed the importance of people's development and investment, especially women.
"We want to encourage more women to be on the board of directors, as Thai women have high potential to become directors in companies and engaged in several sectors including IT, technology and energy," Mrs Kobkarn said.
She said the summit should inspire many other companies and organisations in Thailand to pay closer attention to female empowerment and create platforms to share and exchange experiences with one another.
"The summit enables us to realise the importance of diversity and gender on boards. If organisations have board diversity, businesses will grow more sustainably," said Mrs Kobkarn.
"Having women on boards will broaden perspectives and can contribute so much to a company's growth. Women dare to take risks, but on a prudent basis."
SEC STEPS UP
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is working to increase levels of diversity at the executive level and promote gender equality, both inside and outside the organisation.
SEC secretary-general Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol said the commission plays a vital role in advancing gender equality in the capital market. Gender equality is a key priority not only in the SEC's organisational policies and procedures, but also in the SEC's mission to the public.
She said in addition, several SEC measures have been introduced to help listed companies integrate environmental, social and governance practices.
Ms Ruenvadee said the SEC set a long-term goal for publicly listed companies to have 30% or more female executives. Companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand now have 27% women executives.
"We have to use this opportunity to do our best," she said.
"I'm the first female SEC secretary-general. I am working to do it to the best of my ability."
Rinjai Chakornpipat, senior executive vice-president of the SET and managing director of the Thailand Futures Exchange, said the SET is working towards gender equality, as 68% of its employees are female, of which 44% are at the executive level.
"Working at the SET, we prioritise potential over gender non-discrimination," said Ms Rinjai.
"We recommend all listed companies give everyone a chance regardless of sexual orientation or ethnicity, fostering a good work environment for the Thai economy to grow in the long-term."