On November 28, 2022, the International Institute for Trade and Development (Public Organization) in collaboration with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM) co-hosted the international seminar on “Gender Dimensions of Trade: Lessons and Implications for Thailand.”

With the signing of the Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment by 118 WTO members and observers in Buenos Aires in 2017, there is renewed interest in the relationship between trade and gender equality. To promote economic stability and growth, it is beneficial to advance gender equality through trade and close the gender gap. This mechanism will also contribute to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals, especially SDG 5: achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls by 2030.

The objective of the international seminar aims to exchange views on highlight recent achievements in bringing a gender lens to bear on trade policy and trade agreements. Furthermore, the international seminar discussed what a gender lens adds to international trade, identifies the channels through which trade and gender interact, and focuses on the two-way relationship between gender and trade on how trade policies have gendered effects and how gender biases in the economy, particularly in developing countries towards, optimal trade policy outcomes. 

Dr. Dileni Gunewardena, Professor of Economics at the University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka, was the keynote speaker on this occasion, along with Ms. Sirikan Prasertying, Executive Director of the International Institute for Trade and Development, who served as moderator of the event.