Training on E-Commerce and Digital Marketing for Women Entrepreneurs

Excellencies,

Distinguished participants,

Ladies and gentlemen,

It is a great pleasure to be with you today at the opening of this training on E-Commerce and Digital Marketing for Women entrepreneurs.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the co-organizers of this event: the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology, and the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services of the Republic of Maldives.

I also would like to acknowledge the Asian and Pacific Training Centre for ICT for Development (APCICT). Guided by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the Centre’s objective is to build and strengthen the capacity of members and associate members of ESCAP to leverage information and communication technology (ICT) for the purpose of socio-economic development. 

APCICT’s work is focused on training, knowledge sharing, and multi-stakeholder dialogue and partnership.  Among its flagship training programmes is the “Academy of ICT Essentials for Government Leaders” (Academy), which consists of a comprehensive ICTD training curriculum targeted at policymakers and civil servants. 

With an aim to expand its beneficiaries to more vulnerable populations, and to address key issues of sustainable development such as inclusive growth, entrepreneurship, and gender equality, APCICT developed its third flagship programme known as the “Women ICT Frontier Initiative.” 

Upon the requests of the Ministry of Environment, Climate Change and Technology and the former Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology, APCICT conducted several virtual events in the past in the Maldives such as the Training on Information Security and Privacy (2022), the Webinar on Data Protection and Privacy for Media/Information Officers and Journalists of the Maldives (2021), the Briefing on Data Protection and Privacy for Senior Government Officials of the Maldives (2021) and a Briefing on Digital Government (2021)

The ICT infrastructure in Maldives is one the strongest in South Asia.  According to ITU, the internet is used by 63 per cent of the total population in 2021. High-speed fibre internet is available to over 70 islands and 80 per cent of the population. Maldives is well-positioned to embrace digital technologies and e-commerce. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of digital transformation in Maldives. The shift to e-commerce became necessary as the number of digital applications for e-payments and digital shoppers increased. 

It is essential to promote digital skills among women entrepreneurs so that they can take advantage of new possibilities provided by the digital economy.  The “Training on E-Commerce and Digital Marketing for Women Entrepreneurs” is being organized to celebrate the International Women’s Day. The 2023 International Women’s Day theme: DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality, highlights the need for inclusive and transformative technology and digital education. The two-day training will focus on developing knowledge and understanding of digital and social media marketing and leveraging the readily available e-commerce tools to build their businesses.

The event will also touch on the practical skills in creating social media presence for their brand, its content creation, and having good branding and storytelling in their business strategy.

We appreciate your active participation and collaboration during this training.

I wish you the best for the next two days.

Thank you.