Thank you, Madam Chair.

The Asia Pacific Foundation is an independent not-for-profit organization dedicated to strengthening ties with Asia through research, education and convening activities to facilitate connections between Canadians and counterparts in the Indo-Pacific.

Studies have shown that advancing gender equality and increasing women's economic engagement in Canada could potentially add $150 billion in incremental GDP by 2026. This projection prompted our team to see how our expertise on Asia could contribute to intensifying women's participation in the economy, and particularly those who lead small and medium-sized enterprises, or SMEs.

In 2017, SMEs accounted for about 99.8% of all employer businesses in Canada. However, only 15.6% of the total were majority women-owned, and of these, only 11.1% exported. To help grow the number of women SMEs who export, we launched the women's business missions series to Asia in 2019 to facilitate introductions of Canadian women entrepreneurs to potential business partners in the burgeoning markets of Asia. From 2017 to 2018 we spoke to over 300 women in business across Canada, who told us that they lacked the confidence to tackle the culturally diverse and unknown markets of Asia. They did, however, conclude that if introductions, facilitated through trade missions dedicated to women, could be arranged by agents experienced in navigating these markets, they would attempt market entry.

In spring 2019 we led a pilot mission to Japan, with women entrepreneurs in health tech who specialized in elder care, to address the needs of Japan's aged society. The results included NDAs and MOUs to collaborate on R and D, and agreements for product localization and distribution. Discussions are still under way, which is a good indication that there will be more outcomes in the future.

In summer 2019 we were selected to receive funding from the women's entrepreneurship strategy ecosystem fund, enabling us to lead another six successive missions to key markets in the Indo-Pacific from 2020 to 2023. As expected, our two in-person missions after COVID generated the majority of the outcomes so far, but soon we will embark on our eighth mission to Taiwan and Vietnam.

With WES funding we also created the Canadian Women's International Network, or CanWIN, a spinoff of our trade missions to further support women SMEs. CanWIN offers a powerful network of global connections that provide necessary supports to women in international trade.

This year, on Canada's National Indigenous Peoples Day, we hosted CanWIN's inaugural global summit in Toronto, bringing together over 150 women and gender-diverse participants from across Canada and seven economies in the Indo-Pacific to network and share best practices. We featured a special panel of indigenous business leaders from member economies of the Indigenous Peoples Economic and Trade Cooperation Arrangement, or IPETCA. We also spotlighted award-winning next-generation entrepreneurs from Canada and staged a pitch competition for five talented Canadian finalists in front of an international jury of investors.

To date, 212 women and gender-diverse participants, including business and thought leaders, participated in our seven missions, highlighting Canada's rich cultural and regional diversity; 740 tailored business-to-business meetings were curated; and almost 4,500 women and male allies engaged in our activities across Canada and Asia to advance gender economic empowerment. Our trade mission series generated a conservative estimate of about $21.5 million Canadian in sales and investments as of August 2024, and there are close to 70 business discussions in progress.

The funding enabled us to reach out to under-represented groups of entrepreneurs and “futurepreneurs”, including those who are indigenous women, women of colour and LGBTQ+, to inform them of the opportunities offered by Asian markets and to ensure inclusive representation on our delegations. Our outreach efforts also connected us to many organizations across Canada that support women's entrepreneurship, resulting in a more coordinated approach to helping women founders.

Our results are only a small sampling of what is attainable with curated support for women SMEs that export. With sustained investment, women will continue to drive Canada's economic growth in the years to come.

In closing, I make several recommendations. The first is to continue efforts to weave together independently run supports for women founders to export.

The second is to provide supports not only to early-stage start-ups but also to later-stage start-ups to increase export growth, because there's a gap.

The third is to follow company growth for years, not just once, because to capture accurate growth metrics, you need to continue. It takes a while for results to come out.

Lastly, expand the reach of women-focused supports across associations and chambers of intersectional minority groups.

I'll stop there, Madam Chair. Thank you for the opportunity.