Yangon, March 8, 2017—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is helping celebrate International Women’s Day by jointly organizing a global event in which eminent women will promote gender equality by ringing the opening and closing bells at 43 stock exchanges around the world, including the Yangon Stock Exchange (YSX). The event will highlight the economic imperative of empowering women in the workplace, marketplace, and community.

The Yangon part of this global event is being co-organized by IFC and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar. “This is the first time that the “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” event is held on the Yangon trading floor and we are proud to join this global initiative,” said U Maung Maung Win, Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Myanmar. “It signals our commitment to advancing gender equality in Myanmar’s institutions and companies.”

IFC believes that women—as consumers, employees, business leaders, and entrepreneurs—have the potential to transform the global economy, supporting job creation, raising per-capita incomes, and promoting sustainable development. “This is why we work to promote gender inclusion in all of our activities and leverage our relationships with financial institutions to improve women’s access to finance,” said Vikram Kumar, IFC Country Manager for Myanmar. “Gender diversity in corporate leadership is also key—the presence of women on boards and in leadership positions has a positive impact on financial performance, shareholder value, and sustainability.
Currently, about 30 percent of directors nominated by IFC on the boards of its investee companies are women.”

Now in its third iteration, “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” event series is a partnership of the Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, together with the UN Global Compact, UN Women, IFC, Women in ETFs, and the World Federation of Stock Exchanges.