Written by Andrea Shalal
SANTIAGO (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday praised Chile's central bank's efforts to increase gender diversity, but the South American country remains underrepresented in senior management and in many economic sectors. “It's grossly underrated,” he said.
During her visit to Chile, Yellen, an economic pioneer, met with Rosanna Costa, president of Chile's central bank, and more than a dozen top female leaders, and praised the central bank's efforts to increase diversity and inclusion.
Yellen, the first female US Treasury secretary, held similar meetings with female entrepreneurs and economists from South Korea, China, Zambia, Mexico and Vietnam, extolling the benefits of increasing women's participation in the workforce.
Yellen, who is also the first female head of the Federal Reserve, was greeted with applause as she entered the central bank's large wood-paneled boardroom. Given her pioneering work in economics, Costa described Yellen as a “great leader and inspiration for our country and women across the country.”
Yellen said she visited Chile to emphasize the importance of the political and economic relationship between the United States and Chile, highlighting a 20-year-old free trade agreement and a recently concluded tax treaty.
“Maximizing these opportunities requires a strong environment for the private sector, and this can be facilitated by women's full and equal participation in the economy,” Yellen said. said.
She said more efforts are needed to break down the legal, cultural and regulatory barriers that prevent women from fully participating, and government agencies and businesses need to be proactive in closing the gender gap. he pointed out.
“The Central Bank of Chile has demonstrated this belief by tackling issues of diversity and gender equality head-on,” he said, noting that the bank has doubled the proportion of women hired in economic jobs. praised.
“I know that in Chile, women remain severely underrepresented in senior management and in many sectors of the economy,” she said, adding that through social, regulatory, political and organizational initiatives, these It recognized the efforts made by many stakeholders to change the trend.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Mark Porter)
