International Trade Centre launch revamped version of SheTrades online platform

(Geneva) – The International Trade Centre (ITC) has announced the launch of a re-designed and upgrade version of the SheTrades desktop and mobile app to easier connect women entrepreneurs to markets and buyers. The upgraded SheTrades platform provides users with a new interface, has a range of new features and will ensure a much better user experience.

A central component of the SheTrades Initiative, which aims to connect three million women entrepreneurs to markets, the online platform makes it easier for women entrepreneur and women-owned companies to reach out to potential buyers and vice versa. The SheTrades platform also allows them to connect with peers and improve their business skills through online learning features.

In addition to providing a digital networking home for women entrepreneurs, the SheTrades online platform is also a tool for bigger companies looking to include women entrepreneurs in their supply chains. In fact, a key driver in the development of the platform was an expressed concern from corporations about the challenge they face when trying to identify women vendors as potential suppliers.

Through a series of customized filters, buyer companies registered on SheTrades can identify women entrepreneurs that meet their sourcing requirements. As a SheTrades user, companies have full access to women entrepreneurs’ profiles and company information.

The new SheTrades platform also brings onboard a network of partners as verifiers. Verifiers are companies, trade and investment support institutions, chambers of commerce, international organizations, and professional associations that act to help confirm the women-owned businesses registered on SheTrades are also members of their networks. In addition to confirming that the companies are actually women-owned or managed, it improves women entrepreneurs’ credibility when negotiating with potential business partners.

Commenting on the re-launched SheTrades platform, Vanessa Erogbogbo, Chief, Sustainable and Inclusive Value Chains, DEI/SIVC, said: ‘Despite global progress, women still have less than two-third of the economic opportunities than men. At the International Trade Centre we are firmly behind the notion of leaving no one behind. With the SheTrades Initiative and the online platform we aim to provide women with more and better opportunities to participate in global trade and take advantage of the untapped opportunities. ‘

ITC invites businesses, institutions, agencies to be part of the SheTrades network by registering on www.shetrades.com or by downloading its mobile app, available on Apple store and Play store.

Source: www.intracen.org