Women and the COVID-19 recovery: Rebuilding a more equal private sector in Asia

Facebook & YouTube Live Webcast (free public presentation)

*Zoom login details will be emailed upon registration (ASHK Members and guests Only)

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women, particularly in the private sector. While women make up 39% of global employment, they have accounted for 54% of job losses during the crisis, and female job-loss rates are nearly twice as high as male job-loss rates globally.

Many women in Asia work in informal jobs that have a lower earning capacity, resulting in reduced savings and little to no access to labor protections such as sick leave or protections against dismissal. In many situations, their livelihoods are dependent on public spaces and social interactions, which have been restricted due to COVID-19. In the formal sector, many women are employed in service industries, which were among the first sectors impacted by the crisis. Gender gaps in access to finance have created additional challenges for women entrepreneurs.

The private sector must rebuild from the pandemic with the socio-economic needs and priorities of women at the center of their decisions. Join Asia Society Hong Kong Center, in partnership with International Finance Corporation (IFC) and J.P. Morgan, for an in-depth discussion on how the private sector can build back better, from providing employer-supported childcare and creating insurance products specifically tailored to women, to leveling the playing field in the formal lending sector.

Rana Karadsheh-Haddad, has over 20 years of experience in the field of international investing and finance. She is currently Regional Industry Director - Manufacturing, Agribusiness & Services, South Asia & East Asia and Pacific for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) where she is heading up Agribusiness & Forestry, Chemicals & Fertilizers, Construction Materials, Health & Education, Machinery, Manufacturing, Tourism, Retail, and Property, and managing a diverse team located in 16 offices in the both South Asia & East Asia and Pacific.

Before taking on the role as Regional Industry Director, she was Country Manager leading IFC’s operations in Singapore, which includes infrastructure investments, infrastructure advisory, agribusiness, TMT/PE/Tech investments, IFC’s Asia Treasury Hub and three of IFC’s Asset Management Funds. She was also leading the infrastructure investment team covering Singapore and the Philippines. Prior to this, she was the Europe, Middle East and North Africa Head for the Global Chemicals Group, leading multi-disciplinary teams in executing capital intensive projects and leading IFC’s Global Fertilizer Strategy. Earlier in her career at IFC, Ms. Karadsheh-Haddad was with the privatization transaction group, where she was involved in the sourcing, structuring, execution and closing of major privatization and restructuring transactions in various sectors. Ms. Karadsheh-Haddad holds an MBA and an MA in International Economics from The George Washington University and a BA in Economics and French from The University of Michigan.

Laura Cumming is a Managing Director at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. Based in Hong Kong, she heads the Country Risk Management team for the Asia Pacific team and is Chief Risk Officer for Hong Kong. Her Country Risk team is responsible for conducting fundamental macroeconomic and political analysis, assigning internal sovereign ratings, and managing firmwide country limits for the Asia Pacific region. She joined the Country Risk Management group in 2007 and was appointed the Chief Risk Officer for Hong Kong in 2019. As Hong Kong CRO, she provides oversight of risks inherent in the firm’s business in Hong Kong, including market, credit, liquidity, and operational risk, and ensures risk governance and management meets regulatory requirements.

Prior the 2007, Laura worked in other areas of J.P. Morgan, including credit risk management in New York and loan capital markets in London. Earlier in her career, Laura worked at the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce covering media and telecom clients, and at Sumitomo Bank covering Fortune 500 companies. Laura has a B.A. from Georgetown University and an M.B.A. from Fordham University. She is married and has two grown daughters.

Diana Wu David, a former Financial Times executive, Diana is a consultant on the future of work for boards and CEOs. Her clients have included JP Morgan, Credit Suisse, London Stock Exchange, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group, Wharf, Expedia, the World Bank, Asia Development Bank and KPMG. She also teaches at Hong Kong University Business School and Columbia Business School’s Global EMBA Asia. She began her career and leadership education as an assistant to Dr. Henry Kissinger.

A contributor to Fast Company, Inc, Global Focus and Nikkei Asia, she is also author of best-selling Future Proof: Reinventing Work in the Age of Acceleration, a book about how to adopt more agile mindsets and practices to prepare for success in a fast-changing world, across a 100-year life. (Moderator)

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