The Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada (APF Canada) is pleased to announce that it will lead, with strong support from the private and public sectors, Canada's first women-only business mission to the Republic of Korea (South Korea) in 2020 (dates, TBD). Following the success of the first women-only business mission to Japan in April 2019, APF Canada will continue helping women entrepreneurs in Canada to diversify and expand trade opportunities into other Asian markets.

The three-day mission will be hosted in venues of partner organizations in Seoul and possibly one other location outside of Seoul. Events will include business-to-business matching and networking opportunities, industry site visits, and bilateral discussions of women's economic advancement strategies featuring high-level business and thought leaders from Canada and South Korea.

For more information, and to apply to join the women-only business mission to South Korea, click here.

Taiwan’s measures for preventing the spread of COVID-19 have been remarkably effective with 440 confirmed cases and only 7 deaths as of May 20, 2020, or an infection rate of about one case for every 54,000 people. By contrast, Canada has a rate of about one case for every 472 people. As economies around the world begin to re-open, Taiwan’s approaches can be instructive to other jurisdictions, helping global efforts to contain the virus until effective treatments and vaccines can be developed.

In this session, Minister Audrey Tang, Digital Minister, Taiwan would be providing some insites on the approach and lessons learned.

Speaker:

Minister Audrey Tang was appointed to Taiwan’s Executive Yuan, or Cabinet, in 2016, and has described her role as being one that, through the use of digital technologies and systems, assists the government in solving problems and enhances communication and cooperation between government agencies, civil technology and community. Minister Tang remains a member of the K-12 National Curriculum Development Committee (part of Taiwan’s National Academy for Education Research), and is an advisor to Apple, Oxford University Press and Socialtext Inc., a Silicon Valley-based company focused on enterprise social software. She is a free software programmer and held senior positions with technology companies and programming languages from an early age, including with Perl 6 (now Raku), S-Team Technology Co., Haskell Language, OurInternet Inc., BenQ Corp., and Inforian Inc.

South Korea has earned wide acclaim from international observers for its swift and organized response to a rapid rise in cases early in the COVID-19 pandemic. This response enabled the country to contain the novel coronavirus's spread, ‘flattening the curve’ without comprehensive lockdowns or travel bans, which have characterized many other countries’ experiences.

In this session, noted economist Dr. Choi Byung-il and public health expert Dr. Kwon Soonman will speak to the multifaceted response by South Korea’s government, industry, and civil society that helped buoy the country – socially and economically – during the pandemic. Discussion will be moderated by Dr. Yoon Songyee, CEO of NCSOFT West and 2020 Chair of the Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada’s Asia Business Leaders Advisory Council.

Speakers:

Dr. CHOI Byung-il: Professor and Former Dean, Graduate School of International Studies, Ewha Womans University; President Emeritus, Korea International Economic Association; Former President and CEO, Korea Economic Research Institute.

Dr. KWON Soonman, Professor and Former Dean of the School of Public Health, Seoul National University; President of the Korean Health Economic Association; Former President of Korean Society of Gerontology.

Moderator:

Dr. YOON Songyee, Chief Executive Officer, NCSOFT West; Asian Business Leaders Advisory Council (ABLAC) 2020 Chair.