As the world changes so rapidly, even sharing across borders are shifting into zoom talks. Traditional face-to-face meetings of APEC and ASEAN, which for years have been the basis for policy direction and partnerships development and the weaving of regional economies are, for the most part, happening online, except for the higher Ministerial meetings.

Cost effective, necessary, efficient, perhaps. But I miss the face-to-face part. Because meetings are not just about giving presentations. They are peppered by conversations on the side, the coffee in between, the unexpected meeting in the hallway, the small discussions that create a vibrant network of people sometimes blessed to develop friendships across borders.

I recently was nominated by the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) and the Philippine Women’s Economic network (PhilWEN) to be one of the Philippine speakers in the APEC PPWE (Policy Partnership on Women and the Economy)’s online workshop “Facilitating Integration of Women-Led Creative MSMEs in International Markets,” led by the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

The PPWE is a policy-focused body within APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) dedicated to advancing women’s economic empowerment across the region — things like promoting women’s access to capital, markets, skills training, leadership positions and inclusive economic policy. Its direction now is to ensure gender considerations get integrated across APEC’s broader economic and trade agenda, rather than being a side initiative. This is where our women organizations like PhilWEN continue to have a place — and a voice — in the larger conversation.

The focus of this workshop was on the Creative Industries. According to the Philippine Statistic Authority, the country’s creative economy has generated approximately ₱2.12 trillion in 2025, growing by 6.9 percent from the previous year, and accounting for 7.6 percent of Philippine gross domestic product (GDP). It employed 8.71 million people, equivalent to 17.8 percent of total employment. Creative-services exports reached approximately ₱426.99 billion, while creative-goods exports amounted to approximately₱320.06 billion. These are no longer small numbers.

I was asked to present the success story and case example of Great Women highlighting textiles, design and fashion in an inclusive model. And suddenly I found myself looking backward: Back to 2006 when Great Women began as a development platform; to 2013 when it morphed into an advocacy-driven commercial brand/mark. And back to the time we did business together with indigenous women weavers. We brought them in not simply as producers at the end of the value chain, but as women with micro-businesses that could become part of the global value chain. This was the essence of The Great Women Platform, presented in ASEAN from 2014-2017. It also traces a relationship to APEC when it was also presented during the Philippine hosting of APEC in 2014, then in Lima, Peru in 2016.

Looking at it now, I realize how much I was attempting to do. And how little I knew how hard it could be! Our team went all the way to 40 weaving communities all around the country. We worked with designers, women suppliers and producers in the areas of design, fashion and crafts. But the work also meant interfacing with government agencies to help the women micro-entrepreneurs toward

capacity-building which we were already so stretched to do. From technical support, product development, to the “to market” training and order taking, into product creation, marketing and brand development… plus networking with customers, buyers corporate alignments.

The feat was almost superwomen power for all of us in the team. We not only experience on the ground, but through each woman’s micro-enterprise these key challenges: There was limited access to finance and trade financing; lack of market networks and trade facilitation support; plus the regulatory compliances needed. And yet, perhaps what made Great Women most interesting was that we tried something different. We tried to show what could happen when so many small, micro businesses came together to work and do business together. Plus push forward together — with the belief that creativity rooted in culture could become commerce.

We were blessed with remarkable international partners. One was the government of Canada that funded the development side of the Platform. Then Prime Minister Justin Trudeau actively sought out the Great Women project (us) when he came to the country n 2016. The perfect global commercial collaboration was with Christian Louboutin who designed his “Manila Caba” bag in 2018 with our local textiles. And the academe like Singapore Management University (SMU) that put Great Women as a business case study publication titled “Great Women: Integrating Micro-entrepreneurs into the Regional Value Chain” Behind all these headline activities where also market-driven activities into New York, some small export venture in Spain and the west coast; business development with Filipino designers in the UAE, and numbers of trade showcases, bazaars and even a couple of fashion shows.

Then pandemic. Full stop. Great Women was forced to pivot towards online mentoring, until eventually, we had to let the business go. I remember that moment more clearly than I sometimes admit. I reflect on all the work, all the years, all the women, all the relationships — and remembered a part of me actually sighing with relief — at the sheer release of letting everything go. Because carrying so many women micro-entrepreneurs was both deeply fulfilling but incredibly difficult. Perhaps, every woman who has ever built something knows that strange mixture of grief and relief when something finally ends.

And yet, sitting there now, sharing the Great Women experience once again in the APEC body, I could not help but keep think, what if there was a new iteration of Great Women? Would it still be relevant? The answer lies in what I have seen over the years. Women in the creative economy face great hurdles — not because they lack creativity, but because creativity alone cannot build an eco-system. They need eco-systems that function together. From investments to markets, skills and technology, policies, government and private business.

Perhaps Great Women was never meant to end. Perhaps it is only in its pause. To morph into a new form driven by technology and digital creativity relevant to this new time.