On April 9 at 10:00 (CEST/UTC+2), we will be joined by Heather Taylor-Strauss, Economist at the UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), an intergovernmental platform in the Asia-Pacific region to promote cooperation among its 53 member States and 9 associate members in pursuit of solutions to sustainable development challenges.
This discussion will highlight how FDI can help to achieve gender equality as well as what specifically investment promotion agencies (IPA) can do to increase their contribution towards SDG 5: Gender equality and women’s empowerment.
Managing Director, Andreas Dressler will also be asking Heather questions on the work of UN ESCAP in the field of gender equality and FDI as well as IPA best practices in this regard. The interview is expected to last approximately 30 minutes and will be livestreamed via LinkedIn. To watch the interview, please join the event on LinkedIn here.
Heather Taylor-Strauss is an economist at United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP). She has been leading UN ESCAP’s FDI work programme for the last 4 years, and in that time implemented 20+ technical assistance projects with both national and subnational IPAs across UN ESCAP’s 53 member States on investment promotion and facilitation for sustainable development. In addition to including gender elements into each of the projects she runs, Heather is also spearheading a new initiative at UN ESCAP exploring how FDI can be channeled into the missing middle of women entrepreneurs.
Prior to joining UNESCAP, she worked at the Asian Development Bank, Goethe University, Trinity College, and the Sadar Patel Institute for Economic and Social Research. Heather holds a PhD with distinguished honors in political economy and international business from Goethe University (Germany).
Heather has also written articles on the nexus of gender equality and FDI. The latest pieces are available to read here:
Opinion | We must prove that FDI empowers women. March 2024.
Advanced Gender Equality Through Foreign Direct Investment – Often an Overlooked Avenue. February 2023.
This interview is the nineth interview of a monthly repeating interview series as part of the Towards Gender Equality in FDI initiative. Every month, female guest speakers will be invited to speak about a particular aspect of foreign direct investment and investment promotion. These very practical conversations will highlight best practices and explore the intersection of FDI and gender equality.
