With the participation of more than 250 leaders, businesswomen, executives and representatives from the public and private sectors, the Mexican Business Council for Foreign Trade, Investment and Technology (Comce) held the Women Exporters Forum , a space designed to promote networking , dialogue and collaboration around greater participation of Mexican women in international markets.
The meeting brought together voices from the government, business organizations and representatives of the export ecosystem to discuss one of the pending challenges of foreign trade: closing the gaps that limit the access and growth of women-led businesses .
The event was attended by Alicia Bárcena, Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources; José Medina Mora, President of the Business Coordinating Council (CCE) ; Altagracia Gómez Sierra, Coordinator of the Advisory Council for Regional Economic Development and Relocation (CADERR); Sergio Contreras Pérez, Executive President of Comce; Leonardo Poblete Galván, Head of the Institutional Promotion Unit of the National Bank of Foreign Trade (Bancomext) ; and Susana Duque Roquero, General Director of Comce.
In his welcoming message, Sergio Contreras Pérez emphasized that the country’s export growth cannot be understood without greater incorporation of female leadership.
“Mexico will not be able to reach its full export potential without fully incorporating the leadership, capacity, and vision of women in foreign trade. Our country can become the eighth largest exporting power, but to achieve this goal, women must not be spectators: they must be protagonists,” she asserted.
For her part, Alicia Bárcena linked sustainable development with women’s economic participation and highlighted that foreign trade also represents a way to project identity and values to the world.
“Exporting is about projecting our identity; it’s about telling the world who we are, what we produce, and what values underpin our economy,” he said.
From the business sector, José Medina Mora acknowledged progress in terms of gender parity, although he warned that significant challenges remain at the management levels.
“Although gender parity exists at entry levels, women are underrepresented in management, director, and general management positions. The key to achieving parity is to recognize talent and create opportunities equitably,” she noted.
One of the key findings of the discussion was the disparity between the participation of women-led and men-led businesses in international trade. According to the forum, in Latin America, less than a quarter of businesses are headed by women, and this gap is also reflected in export activity.
While 10% of women-led businesses export, the proportion reaches 14% for those led by men . This difference is partly due to structural factors: women-led businesses tend to be smaller, younger, and concentrated in the service sector, while men-led businesses tend to be larger and more focused on international trade in goods.
The forum also addressed the particular context of Mexico, where female representation in business leadership continues to be lower compared to other markets in the region.
With this meeting, Comce reaffirmed its commitment to opening spaces for dialogue, collaboration, and capacity building that will allow for greater participation of women in foreign trade and accelerate their access to new internationalization opportunities.
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