[applause]

>> good morning. good morning. [cheers and applause] >> good morning, everyone. thank you. thank you so much. it is absolutely a pleasure to see all of you here today. i have been getting reports about the conference, and i am so excited to join you today to talk about what we are focused on here at this summit on women and the economy. before i begin, i want to apologize for the delay, but there were so many people who showed up, and because this is the largest gathering of distinguished foreign diplomats in san francisco since the founding of the united nations,

there was a little more of a delay in getting everyone in. there are still people outside we hope we will be able to get in. before i begin my remarks, let me recognize a few of our special guests here. we have two members of congress . zoe lohgren and jackie spears. thank you for being here. [applause] and we have two distinguished mayors. i want to welcome mayor edwin lee and his wife anita from right here in san francisco. [applause] and mayor gene kwan. thank you for being here. [applause] >> i want to acknowledge a

wonderful friend and former chief of protocol, charlotte. thank you, charlotte. [applause] >> now as this summit comes to a close, we will adopt a decoration for the first time in apex history that will affirm this organization and each member economy's commitment to improving women's access to capital and markets, to building women's capacities and skills and supporting the rise of women leaders in both the public and private sectors. it is fitting that this decoration would be adopted here in san francisco because it was just one mile from here in the herbst theater where the united nations charter was signed 66 years ago. in fact, the apex summit which

brings you all here is a celebration of that important occasion and a recognition that history is made right here in san francisco. because san francisco is an appropriate venue for this economic discussion. this is a community that is renowned for its spirit of inclusion and opportunity for all. so on behalf of the united states and our people, i give each of you and your nations my heartiest welcome and my heartfelt thanks for being here and undertaking this great mission with us. now there will be a temptation on the part of those observing or covering this summit, perhaps on the part of those of us attending it as well, to say that our purpose is chiefly to advance the rights of women, to achieve justice and equality on

women's behalf. and that is of course a noble cause to be sure and one that is very close to my heart. but at the risk of being somewhat provocative at the outset, i believe our goal is even boulder, one that bush bolder, one that extend to all women. the big challenge we face in the early years of the 21st century is how to grow our economies and to ensure shared pro's parities for all nations and all people. we want to give every one of our citizens, men and alike, young and old away, greater opportunity to find work, to save money and pursue happiness, to live up to their own god-given potential. that is a simple vision to state. but to make it real, to achieve the economic expansion we all

seek, we need to unlock a vital source of growth that can power or economies in the decades to come. that vital sort of growth is women. with economic models straining in every corner of the world, none of us can afford to perpetuate the barriers facing women in the work force. because by increasing women's participation in the economy and enhappensing their efficiency and productivity, we can bring -- enhancing their efficiency and productivity, we can bring about a dramatic impact on the growth and efficiency of our economies. because when everyone has a chaps to participate in the economic life of a nation, we can all be richer. more of us can contribute to the global g.d.p., and the gap between the developed and the developing countries would narrow significantly as

productivity rises in economies from haiti to new begin -- new guinea. but that great global dream cannot be realized around the edges of reform, nor candidly can be it be secured through any singular commitment on the part of us here. it requires, however, a fundamental traps formation, a paradigm shift, in how governments make and enforce laws and policies, how businesses invest and operate, how people make choices in the marketplace. the transformational nature of this undertaking that lies ahead is in my view not unlike other momentous shifts in the economic history of our world. in the 19th century, many nations began moving from an agricultural to an industrial economy. then the inventions and mass

productions of that era gave rise in the 20th century to the information age and the knowledge economy with an unprecedented rise in innovation and prosperity. as information transcends border and creates opportunities for farmers to bank on mobile phones and children in distant villages to learn remotely, i believe that here at the beginning of the 21st century we are entering the participation age where every individual regardless of gender or other characteristics is poised to be a contributing and valued member of the global marketplace. in some apex economies, this transformation has been under way for quite a while now. in others it has begun more recently. but in all, progress has been too slow and too uneven. but there is no doubt that the increasing numbers of women in the economy and the rising

productivity gained from improving the distribution of their talents and skills has helped fuel significant growth everywhere. and economies that are making the shift more effectively and rapidly are dramatically outperforming those that have not. so if we are serious about this undertaking, if we really want to achieve parity for women in the work force both as they participate and how they participate, then we must remove structural and social impediments that stack the deck against them. now i don't urge this because it is the right thing to do, though i believe it is, but for the sake of our children and our nations it is necessary to do. because a rising tide of women in an economy raises the fortunes of families and nations. my husband often says in making

the argument that everyone should be involved that we don't have a person to waste. i think that's true. when it comes to the enormous challenge of our time, to systemically and relent leslie purse -- relent leslie purr sighs those things. the case for unlocking the potential of william and including them more fully in the economic life of our nation respect begins with an accounting of how women are driving growth. the 21 economies of apex is the most dynamic of the world. together we equal more than that half of global output. they are opening stores. they are running businesses. they are harvesting crops. they are assembling electronics

and designing software. the economist points out that the increase in employment of women in developed countries during the past decade has added more to global growth than china has, and that's a lot. in the united states a study found that women went from holding 37% of all jobs to nearly 48% over the past 40 years. and that in sheer value terms, these williams have punched well above their weight. the productivity gains attributeable to this modest increase in women's overall share of the labor market accounts for approximately one quarter of the current u.s. g.d.p. that works out to more than $3.5 trillion, more than the g.d.p. of germany, and more than half the g.d.p.'s of china and japan. so the promise is clear. what then is the problem? if women are already making such contributions to economic

growth, why do we need a major realignment in our thinking, our markets and our policies? why do we need to issue a decoration from this summit? well because evidence of progress is not evidence of success. and to be sure, the rate of progress for women in the economies of our region varies widely. laws, customs and the values that fuel them provide road blocks to full inclusion. in the united states and in every economy in apeck, millions of women are still sidelined, unable to find a meaningful place for themselves in the work force. some of those though get to enter the work force are really confined by very clear signals to a lower rung on the job ladder, and there is a web of legal and social restrictions that limit their potential. or they are confronted with a glass ceiling that keeps them

from the most senior positions. only 11 of the c.e.o.'s of the fortune global 500 companies are women. that is less than 3%. some women in the apec region don't have the same inheritance rights as men. so they can't inherit property or businesses owned by their fathers. some don't have the power to confer citizensship on their children, so their families have less access to housing and education, and they must constantly renew residency permits, making it harder for them to work. some are even subject to different taxes than men. too often they are denied access to credit and may even be prohibited from opening bank accounts, signing contracts, purchasing property, incorporating a business or filing lawsuits without a male guardian. some women earn almost as much

as men before they have children, but less afterwards, and even less if they are single mothers. these barriers and restrictions some formal, some informal, erode women's abilities to participate fully in their economies and to support their families whether as employees or entrepreneurs. these barriers are certainly not unique to this region. variations of them can be found everywhere in the world. but because this is the most dynamic economic region in the world, what we do will have an impact on everywhere else. some barriers are left over from a different time and haven't changed to reflect new economic realities or concepts of justice. some seek to preserve an economic order that ensures that men have the higher paying jobs to support their families. and some reflect lingering cultural norms, the belief that women need to be protected are from work that is thought to be dangerous or unhealthy for

them. in truth, what is dangerous is denying ourselves the level of economic growth we need to build stronger societies. and what is unhealthy is for women to be denied the chance to contribute fully to that growth. that denies everyone, first and foremost, their games, a chance at greater prosperity. economic orders do not perpetuate themselves. they are made and remade through countless decisions, small and large, by economic policy makers, political leaders and business executives. so if we want to see opportunities for women improve, we must begin with sound economic policies that explicitly address the unique challenges that limb women, and here's why. a goldman-sachs report shows how a reduction in barriers to female labor force participation would increase america's g.d.p. by 9%. we admits we still have such barriers. it would increase the yurs --

euro zone by 15% and japan's by 15th. it could lead to a 14% rise in per capital -- per-capita incomes in several economies, including, china, russia, philippines, vietnam and korea. of course rising increase means increased spending, which helps fuel more growth. and here, too, women make a strong contribution. a boston consulting group survey concludes that globally women will control $15 trillion in spending by the year 2014. and by 2028, b.c.g. says women will be responsible for about 2/3 of consumer spending worldwide. digging a little deeper into the data, we can see positive

benefits that flow from both the quality of spending and the quality of saving by women. multiple studies have shown that women spend more of their earned income on food, health care, home improvement and schooling for themselves and their children. in short, they reinvest, and that kind of spending has a multiplier effect, leading to more job growth and diversified local economies. and that in turn can help ensure better educated healthier citizens and provide a cushion in the event of market downturns. the research also shows that women are stronger savers than men. does that surprise any of the women here? [laughter] data from 20 semi-industrialized countries suggests that for every one percentage point increase in the share of household income generated by women, aggregate domestic savings increased by

roughly 15 basis points. and a higher savings rate translates into a higher tax base as well. integrating women more effectively into the way businesses invest, market and recruit also yields benefits in terms of profitablity and corporate governance. a survey reported increased profits as a result of investments in empowering women in emerging markets. research also demonstrates a strong correlation between higher degrees of gender diversity in the leadership ranks of business and organizational performance. the world bank finds that by eliminating discrimination against female workers and managers, managers could significantly increase productivity per worker by 25% to 40%. reducing barriers, preventing women from working in certain

sectors would lower the productivity gap between male and female workers by a third to one half across a range of countries. these gains are achieved because removing barriers to the talent and skills of women can be ememployed more efficiently. in our globalized world today, this is a competitive edge that is more important than ever. all of this underscores my primary point. when we liberate the economic potential of women, we elevate the economic performance of communities, nations and the world. take just one sector of our economy, agriculture to illustrate what i mean. we know women play an important role in driving agriculture-led growth world wide. agriculture is a power giannini for development as we have seen in the remarkable rise of china and india. in several economies, women

comprise nearly half of the agriculture labor force. they sustain every link in the agricultural chain. they plant the seeds, care for the livestock, harvest the crops, sell them at markets, they store thed food, and then they prepare it for consumption. as for the role of women in agriculture nowadays, despite their presence in all of these kinds of jobs, they have less to show for all of their work. women farmers are up to 30% less productive than male farmers. and that is not because they are working less or less committed. it's because women farmers have access to fewer resources. they have less fertilizer, fewer tools, poorer quality seed and less access to training or to land. and they have much less time to farm because they also have to do most of the household work. when that resource gap is

closed and resources are allocated equally, and better yet, efficiently, women and men are equally productive in agriculture. and that has positive benefits. in nepal, for example, where mothers have greater ownership of land, there are fewer underweight children. so what we have is an opportunity to accelerate growth in developing economies while at the same time producing more and cheaper food for our planet. close the resource gap holding women back in developing economies, and we could feed 150 million more people worldwide every year. that is according to the food and agriculture organization. that is in addition to the higher incomes for families and the more efficient markets and the more agricultural trade that would result. the same kindthe same kind of ie

seen in other sectors of the economy, because we know the entrepreneurial spirit of a man is strong. more than half a million enterprises in indonesia and nearly 400,000 in korea are headed by women. they run nearly 20% of all of china's small businesses. all across asia, women have and continue to dominate light manufacturing sectors that have proved crucial to the region's economic take off. and economists predict that women-owned businesses, which now provides for 16% of all u.s. jobs, will create nearly a third of the new jobs anticipated over the next seven years. so with that kind of evidence at hand, it is little wonder that the world economic forum's gender gap report finds a direct correlation between the gender gap and economic productivity. the lower the former, the higher the latter.

as klaus schwab, the executive chairman of the world economic forum concludes, women and girls must be treated equally of the countries to grow and prosper. the declaration we will adopt here today can begin to close the gender gap, by making it possible for more women to unleash their potential as workers, and entrepreneurs, and business leaders. and the goals in this declaration of very specific. we commit to giving women access to capital, so women entrepreneurs can turn their ideas into the small and medium enterprises that are the source of so much growth and job creation. we urge examining and reforming our legal and regulatory systems so women can avail themselves of a full range of financial services, and such reforms can also help ensure that women are not forced to compromise on the well-being of their children to pursue a business career. we must improve women's access

to markets so those who start businesses can keep them open. for example, we need to correct the problem of what is called information asymmetric problems, meaning that women are not informed about the trade and technical assistance programs that are available, as we just discussed and agriculture. there are two state the parma programs that we're using to try to model a lot of these approaches. a program called pathways to prosperity connects policymakers and private sector leaders in 15 countries across the americas peter it is aimed at helping small business owners, small farmers, craft people do more businesses, both locally and three regional trade. and the african women's on to partnership program reaches out to women that are part of the african growth and opportunity countries to provide them with information and tools to take advantage of what agoa has to

offer. finally, we must support the rise of women leaders in the public and private sectors, because they bring firsthand knowledge and understanding of these challenges, and their perspectives will add greater value as we shape policies and programs that will eliminate barriers to bring women into all economic sectors. several businesses are already taking significant steps to meet such goals. goldman sacks is training the next generation of women business leaders in developing economies, with its 10,000 women campaign. coca-cola's five by 20 campaign aims to post -- claims to support 5 million women entrepreneurs worldwide by 2020. just this week, walmart announced that it will use its purchasing power to support women entrepreneurs by doubling the amount of goods it will buy from women-owned businesses globally to $20 billion by 2016.

[applause] in an addition, wal-mart will invest $100 million to help women develop their job skills, including women who work on their farms and factories overseas that are walmart suppliers. now, these programs are just the start of the type of permanent shift we need to see in how businesses worldwide invest in women. now, i do not underestimate the difficulty of measuring in what i call the participation age. legal changes require political will. cultural and behavioral changes require social well. all of this requires leadership by governments, civil society, and the private sector. and even when countries pursue an aggressive structural reforms to get more women into their economy and enhance their productivity, they do not

always produce the results that we would like to see. so we have to stay with this. persistence is part of our long- term plan. and while economic orders may be hard to change, and policy strategies -- no matter how good, can only get us so far, we all have to make a choice, not simply to remove barriers but to really fill this field with an active investment and involvement from all of us. those of you who are here today are leaders from across the >> aye. >> region, and it is your choice to come here, it is your choice to focus on women and the economy that will send a message rippling across >> aye. >> -- rippling across apec. the callous decision that will be taken by leaders and citizens to encourage young girls to stay in school, to acquire skills, to talk to that banker, to

understand what it means to give a loan to a woman who will work her heart out to produce a result for herself and her children. and when we do that, we're going to really make a big difference in helping to elevate the age of participation for women. and there are many other areas we have to be attended to. our medical research dollars need to be sure that we are equally investing in when men as men. our tax systems have to ensure that we do not either deliberately or inadvertently discriminate against women. and women should be given the same opportunities to be productive and contributing members of society. but big and bold ideas, i think are called for in our world today, because a lot of what we are doing is not in achieving the outcomes that we are seeking. there is a stimulative and rebel

affect that kicks in when women have greater access to jobs and the economic fortunes of their families, their communities, and their countries. many people say that there are all kinds of benefits that will flow from this, but i want to be somewhat modest in our goals. yes, i do think it will produce more food and more educational opportunity and more financial stability for more families around the world, and that will have a dividend across the full spectrum of society. but our declaration will be meaningless if we do not put our will and effort behind it. i think this summit just might make the history books that people look back in years to come and say, that meeting in san francisco with all of those important people from across the asia-pacific region said something that had never been said before.