“We reject the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework!”
Photo by APWLD
APWLD | 15 December 2022
“We reject the Indo-Pacific Economic Framework!”
APWLD members and partners attending the APWLD Convening on Trade and Corporate Power in Asia Pacific in Chiang Mai, Thailand stand together to oppose the IPEF which is currently on its first round of negotiations in Australia.
Joms Salvador of GABRIELA, Philippines said that while the IPEF is not considered a new agreement between the US and countries in the Asia-Pacific region, it will produce new rules, processes and commitments to secure US trade and investment interests to counterbalance China’s growing economic, political and military influence in the region.
“The IPEF is not, and never will be, just about economic trade, but a link in the chain of US hegemonic dominance in Asia-Pacific, where it has maintained strategic military presence and client relations with its neocolonies in the region, often to the detriment of national sovereignty and the human rights of Asian women and peoples. Women must resist the IPEF and stand our ground in the face of intensifying US-China rivalry and its encroachment on our lives as sovereign peoples,” Salvador explained.
Meanwhile, Burnad Fatima of Society for Rural Education and Development, India emphasised that the IPEF is a mere ‘pinkwashing’ tactic that will not genuinely respond to the needs of women, especially those in the marginalised sectors.
“We oppose the Gender Upskill Initiative by IPEF. Gender Upskilling Initiative is a medium for making more profit for the corporation. It will not address the issue and protect the rights of women especially the rights of marginalised women such as Dalit and tribal women. Women at the local level are experienced and knowledgeable. They should stop making a profit in the name of ‘Upskilling Initiative’,” Fatima concluded.
