The Taiwan Stock Exchange (“TWSE”) is pleased to join over 100 exchanges around the globe to celebrate the 7th “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” initiative. By standing together, the TWSE and exchanges around the world held events or ceremonies to encourage the private sector to jointly promote women’s rights in economic participation. The activities were reported by the World Federation of Exchanges (“WFE”) in its “Focus issue 48: April 2021.”(https://focus.worldexchanges.org/articles/wfe-members-ring-bell-gender-equality-2021)

On March 15, Chairman Jan-Yau Hsu and President Lih-Chung Chien of the TWSE led all senior executives to ring the bell, demonstrating the Exchange’s commitment to promoting gender equality and presenting Taiwan’s achievements in ensuring women’s empowerment. Prior to that, the TWSE also marked the global initiative by
the “2021 Corporate Governance Evaluation Educational Sessions,” in which the Exchange urged all listed companies to advance gender equality and sustainable development.

Taiwan's achievements in ensuring women's rights have been recognized internationally. The promotion of gender equality is also incorporated in the ESG development as a sustainable priority in Taiwan’s capital market. According to either the United Nations Development Program’s Gender Inequality Index standards, or the World Bank’s “2019 Women, Business and Law” report, Taiwan topped Asian peers in gender equality in these two publications. Additionally, the Taiwan market is weighted number one in both the Dow Jones Sustainability Emerging Markets
Index and FTSE4Good Emerging Index.

The “Ring the Bell for Gender Equality” initiative is organized by The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation “(“IFC”), the World Federation of Exchanges (“WFE”), the UN Sustainable Stock Exchange Initiative (“SSE”), the UN Global Compact, and UN Women and Women in ETFs. The TWSE’s engagement in this global partnership, along with other exchanges’ involvement, was published on the WFE website.(https://www.world-exchanges.org/news/articles/over-100-exchanges-worldwidewill-ring-bell-gender-equality-2021)