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The International Trade Centre (ITC) and Mercado Libre today launched a partnership to enhance the digital literacy and market access of women-led businesses in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico.
The collaboration links ITC’s extensive network and technical expertise in global trade with Mercado Libre’s unparalleled market intelligence and track record of enabling e-commerce, delivering digital payments, and championing enterprise development.
The primary objective of the partnership is to build capacity and opportunities for Latin American women-led businesses to engage in digital trade. Mercado Libre will also work with ITC to deliver technical assistance to businesses and provide them access to its global platform, advancing ITC’s objective of connecting 3 million women to markets as part of its SheTrades Initiative.
The outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic has spurred a quantum leap in digitalization, with e-commerce trade flows exhibiting unprecedented highs; Latam is leading the worldwide e-commerce growth with 25.6% change during 2021 (e-marketer, 2021). But technological advances do not always decode into advances in equality for women, who persistently lag behind men when it comes to access and use of the digital marketplace. The partnership henceforth offers an ideal opportunity for women-led small and medium-sized enterprises in Latin America to overcome barriers and harness e-commerce.
‘We know the world needs a transformation and we want to be part of the change. With our ecosystem, we boost the entrepreneurial and SME community but only 18% of them are women. There is a great opportunity for female leadership to evolve faster and we are convinced that initiatives like these are the way’, Alehira Orozco, Government Relations Sr Manager of Mercado Libre Mexico.
‘Covid-19 has changed the way we do business – it has accelerated the need for businesses to digitalize in order to survive and improve their resilience to economic shocks,’ said Vanessa Erogbogbo, Chief of Sustainable and Inclusive Value Chains at the International Trade Centre. ‘E-commerce has emerged as a thriving sector that will play a crucial part in global economic recovery efforts and support greater opportunities for women-led businesses. ITC is pleased to partner with Mercado Libre to promote the inclusion of women-led businesses in the digital revolution.’
The collaboration significantly advances the International Trade Centre’s overall mission of fostering inclusive and sustainable economic development. In addition, it advances the goal of achieving the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.