KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will be hosting the Academy for Women Entrepreneurs (AWE) East Asia and Pacific inaugural summit, gathering all successful women entrepreneurs from 10 countries in the region, in March next year.

AWE is a United States (US) government flagship programme under the White House-led Women's Global Development and Prosperity Initiative.

The US Charge d'Affaires to Malaysia, Michael Newbill said the summit will focus on three basic elements which are helping to raise finance, building network and grow businesses, either online or in person.

He said one key component of the programme is mentorship in which all the entrepreneurs have mentors to guide them throughout their entrepreneurship journey.

"During the summit, we'll invite participants from 10 other countries to Malaysia to share their best practices to mentor each other and talk further, among others on export and trade between countries, together with the other challenges and opportunities that women entrepreneurs face and can overcome as they go forward to build their businesses.

"The summit will be a very exciting opportunity to bring all these empowered people together in one place to share their experiences," he told reporters after the launch of AWE Malaysia's third cohort by the Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun, here, today.

The third cohort will be participated by 70 aspiring women entrepreneurs, successfully selected from hundreds of applicants in six regional areas; the Klang Valley, Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Terengganu, Sabah dan Sarawak.

Over the course of the year-long programme, they will take part in a facilitated online learning programme, with a specific focus on technology companies, as well as businesses that utilise technology in their operations.

Meanwhile, Rina Harun in her remarks said the AWE Programme, which is part of the embassy's Wanita Empowered campaign, is in line with the ministry's and her aspirations.

"I hope to empower women through various aspects of capability building, economically empowering them through entrepreneurship, thus enabling them to develop themselves and the economy," she said.

Also present was the Women Entrepreneur Network Association (WENA) president Nuraizah Shamsul Baharin.

-- BERNAMA