News Release

Forty women board directors and executives led by Corporate Women Directors International (CWDI) President Irene Natividad opened the stock market of Tokyo Stock Exchange, a subsidiary of Japan Exchange Group (JPX), today to salute Japan's hosting of the 2017 Global Summit of Women. JPX CEO Akira Kiyota welcomed the women participating in ringing the opening bell and stated " It is a great honor for JPX to be able to welcome this group of world-class leaders working towards the advancement of women around the globe. I can once again firmly assert that we must create a society where women can shine." Brought together by CWDI, a Washington, DC-based organization which researches and promotes women on boards globally, the Market Open also marked the important contributions Japanese women have made to the nation's economy.

"On the occasion of 1,300 women leaders in business and government gathering in Tokyo this week for the Global Summit of Women, it is important to note that Japanese women and their global counterparts, whether they are CEOs, executives with multinational corporations, or entrepreneurs of businesses large or small, play a major role in the global economy," stated CWDI Chair and President of the Global Summit of Women Natividad.

Joining Natividad for the Market Open were women CEOs and executives, including Noriko Nakamura, CEO of Poppins and Chair, Host Committee for GSW2017; Sakie Fukushima, Board Director of Ajinomoto, Bridgestone and J.Front Retailing.; Denise Rutherford, CEO of 3M Japan; Debra Hazelton, General Manager at Mizuho Bank; Miyuki Suzuki, CEO of Cisco Japan; Kathy Matsui, Vice Chair of Goldman Sachs Japan among other leaders of Japanese companies. Participating from abroad were Ilona Weiss, CEO of ABC Data Inc. (Poland); Ilka Friese, Managing Director & CFO of NTT Data Germany; Muriel Penicaud, CEO of Business France and Ambassador for International Investment (France); Melissa Yang, Founder of Yujia (China's Air BnB); Delia Domingo-Albert, Senior Adviser at EY Philippines and former Philippine Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Denise Evans, Vice President of Global Markets for IBM (USA), and others from countries represented at the Summit.

Natividad adds: "It's important that women are seen as part of business traditions such as the ringing of the opening bell in stock exchanges. Bringing women from throughout the world to this ceremony illustrates the extent of women's global business leadership and Japan's important role in the global economy."

Today's event marked the 17th Market Open organized by CWDI. Other openings took place with women business leaders beginning in 2006 at NASDAQ in New York, the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in South Africa, the Istanbul Stock Exchange in Turkey, the Madrid Stock Exchange, the Barcelona Stock Exchange of Spain, the Warsaw Stock Exchange of Poland, the Sao Paolo Stock Exchange in Brazil, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, the Zurich Stock Exchange, the Bursa Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, the Deutsche Boerse in Frankfurt, Euronext or the Bourse in Paris, the Australian Securities Exchange in Sydney, the Philippine Stock Exchange, and the Mexican Stock Exchange.