On January 10, 2025, Foreign Trade University successfully organized a Seminar with the theme "International trade in the new context: barriers and challenges for women-owned enterprises" within the framework of the WTO Chair Program for the period 2022 - 2026.

Attending the Seminar, on the guest side, there was the presence of Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh - Founder and General Director of Welead; Dr. Nguyen Hung Cuong - Head of the Faculty of Business Administration, Vietnam Women's Academy; Ms. Pham Nhat Nga - Director of Creative Solutions Consultancy, and representatives of other enterprises.

On the side of Foreign Trade University, there were Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Hien - Vice President of the University; Assoc. Prof. Dr. Trinh Thi Thu Huong - Director of the WTO Chair Program at Foreign Trade University (FTU - WCP); Dr. Vu Kim Ngan - Deputy Director of the FTU - WCP Program; Heads and Deputy Heads of some units in the University along with members of the Program, lecturers and students of the University.

In her opening remarks at the seminar, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Hien emphasized the important role of women-owned businesses in promoting the economy and creating sustainable values ​​for the community. However, these businesses are facing challenges such as limited access to capital, business networks, and social prejudice. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Vu Thi Hien expressed her hope that this will be an open forum for scientists, managers, entrepreneurs, and experts to exchange and discuss in depth the barriers to international trade that women-owned businesses often face, the challenges from the new global economic context, such as geopolitical crises, protectionist policies, and digital transformation, as well as solutions and opportunities to enhance competitiveness and raise women's voices in the field of international trade and business.

In her welcoming speech at the Seminar, Ms. Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh - Founder and CEO of Welead affirmed that the opportunities for women to participate in the global value chain are huge. Vietnam has many policies and programs to promote gender equality and has promoted women-owned businesses, notably Vietjet, TH True Milk, BRG, etc., but barriers related to digital transformation, compliance with international rules and climate change still exist. She believes that the Seminar will contribute to connecting and sharing to enhance the role of women in business leadership.

The Seminar program includes a Presentation Session and a Roundtable Discussion Session. The Presentation Session has the participation of 3 speakers.

The opening is a presentation by Dr. Nguyen Hong Hanh - Lecturer at Foreign Trade University on "International trade in the new context: Integrating gender provisions in free trade agreements". Dr. Nguyen Hong Hanh said that these provisions can appear in the introduction, objectives, or in a separate chapter with content ranging from aspirations, affirmations, to requests to increase women's participation in business decisions, establish cooperation mechanisms or resolve disputes.

The program continues with a presentation by Dr. Nguyen Hung Cuong on "Challenges and support needs of women starting businesses in Vietnam in the new context". He emphasized the role of startups in promoting innovation, job creation, local economic development and international cooperation. He shared that the Women's Entrepreneurship Project for the 2007-2025 period had exceeded its set target, while also highlighting the difficulties and challenges that women entrepreneurs are facing.

Ms. Pham Nhat Nga, in her presentation “Women’s businesses breaking through in the new context: Trends and Recommendations”, discussed new trends such as ESG and technology, and made recommendations to help women’s businesses break through in the global context.

The roundtable discussion that followed was lively under the coordination of Dr. Luong Thi Ngoc Oanh - Deputy Head of the Faculty of International Economics, Foreign Trade University, focusing on barriers and trends that need to be grasped, knowledge and skills needed for women leaders.

At the end of the Seminar, the representative of Foreign Trade University delivered a closing speech and expressed deep gratitude to the delegates for their important contributions to the success of the Seminar “International trade in the new context: barriers and challenges for women-owned businesses”.