In her opening remarks, Ms. Ruenvadee Suwanmongkol, Secretary-General of the SEC, said: “As a capital market regulator and policymaker, the SEC has been promoting gender equality, considering human rights, as a part of our strategic priorities to support listed companies in their integration of environmental, social and governance considerations into business practice. Today’s seminar is organized as a commemoration of the International Women’s Day and to further highlight the importance of gender equality and women’s leadership roles. In relation to this, we are delighted to announce the launch of our new microsite, Gender Corner (https://www.sec.or.th/TH/Pages/GenderCorner/homepage.aspx), which will serve as an accessible-to-all community supporting gender equality of listed companies and their value chains. The site will provide knowledge resources, guidance and the SEC’s activities related to women’s empowerment and gender equality. On this occasion, we would also like to applaud listed companies’ determination in emphasizing the importance of gender equality.* As of December 2022, there were 206 listed companies having 30 percent woman directors on the board.” 

Ms. Sarah Knibbs, Regional Director a.i., UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, states that “We recognize that simply urging women to strive harder to ascend the corporate ladder on their own cannot bring about true economic empowerment and gender equality. Rather, it requires the establishment of mechanisms that foster an enabling environment and equal opportunities for all. We express our gratitude to the Securities and Exchange Commission, Thailand, and Thai Listed Companies Association for taking bold steps to promote women’s leadership roles, track progress, endorse the Women’s Empowerment Principles, and encourage listed companies in Thailand to join the UN Women’s WEPs global community.”

Ms. Pojanard Prinyapatpakorn, Director of the TLCA, said: “Thailand has placed an increasing emphasis on gender equality, particularly in the role of women as leaders, with over 200 registered companies currently having female board members, accounting for as much as one-third of all registered companies. This reflects the growing opportunities for Thai women in the private sector, where they are increasingly being recognized for their contributions to the workplace and society. This is due in part to the consciousness-raising and support efforts of many organizations to create a more diverse and balanced workforce, with the belief that in the future, women leaders will be a significant target group with a high impact on driving the economy. The TLCA has a mindset to support related businesses in building a corporate culture that emphasizes gender equality. We would like to commend and recognize exemplary businesses that have initiated and promoted gender equality through the empowerment of women’s leadership or Women’s Empowerment, and provided opportunities for all genders to participate equally.”

Joining the panel session were directors and senior executives of listed companies, UN Women and the SEC, as follows: 1. Ms. Jainnisa Khuvinichkul Chakrabandhu Na Ayudhya, Independent Director, Kasikornbank PLC, 2. Ms. Piyaporn Phanachet, Director and CEO, TCM Corporation PLC,
3. Ms. Siriporn Rathie, Country Programme Manager, WE RISE Together Thailand, UN Women Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, and 4. Ms. Jomkwan Kongsakul, Deputy Secretary-General of the SEC. The discussion highlighted that promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment by corporations has been widely accepted as a contributor not only to businesses’ survival but also their resilience and sustainability.

The seminar “Leadership Role and Sustainable Business” was held at Grand Ballroom 2&3, Grand Hyatt Erawan Bangkok and live on the SEC’s Facebook page. A replay is available on https://www.facebook.com/sec.or.th/videos/1255546688710082 .

Remark:

* The praise is given to listed companies for their support to gender equality with an emphasis on the empowerment of women in leadership roles. It is not, however, a guarantee of their corporate governance best practice, good operating results or compliance with other rules and regulations imposed on listed companies. Therefore, this praise should not be a reference in the assessments of other organizations, nor would it have any impact on the SEC’s consideration of the listed companies in the future. In this specific instance, the SEC considered listed companies’ support to gender equality, using the data of listed companies with at least 30 percent woman directors on the board (as of 31 December 2022) without any record of misconduct under the Securities and Exchange Act in the past year (from 1 January 2022 – 31 December 2022).