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India
From the Times of India, December 21, 2014
“WEConnect International, which set up its India operations in 2012, connects women-centric enterprises it certifies to multinational corporate members like IBM or Accenture. Sucharita Shome Eashwar, India head, explains, ‘To be eligible for certification, women must hold a majority stake in the enterprise (51% or more) and be decision-makers in the enterprise (hold post of CEO or MD). We also prefer enterprises that have completed at least one year of operation.’
‘In 2013, IBM spent over Rs 300 crore with diverse suppliers across India, of which more than Rs 100 crore was spent with women-owned suppliers. We expect year-to- year growth,’ says Suhaib Sajid, who leads IBM’s sup-plier diversity program in Asia-Pacific. Srikant Rao, MD-Procurement Asia-Pacific at Accenture, believes having a diverse supplier chain which includes women entrepreneurs is also a good commercial decision.”
