Source: Xinhua    Published: 2015-10-16

A women group under the auspices of G20 pledged here on Friday more efforts to close the gender gap for sustained strong economic growth.

The so-called W20 engagement group, formed under Turkey`s G20 presidency, set a target of reducing the gap between men and women in the workforce by 25 percent as of 2025.

If achieved, it means 100 million women will join the workforce over the next 10 years, said a W20 document released after the group met in Istanbul.

Women make up over half of the world`s population, but their contribution to economic growth is far below their potentials, participants at the meeting agreed.

"We dedicated ourselves to endorse a roadmap for women inclusion in the workforce," said Gulden Turktan, the president of W20.

She called on China, which takes over G20 presidency next year, to continue taking concrete steps to empower women economically.

"China is a very strong country and I am personally requesting China to adopt the W20 policies that we developed under Turkey`s presidency," she told Xinhua, stressing that "If China will embrace the assets that we have created this year, I am sure that the women`s movement will be successful."

"Turkey initiated a strong movement in terms of empowering women in the economy," she added. "It is now China`s turn to take additional strong steps in pursuing our goals in 2016."

Currently female participation in the labor force is 56 percent in G20 countries, while male participation is 86 percent.

"One percent additional female participation to the workforce means 80 billion dollars increase in global gross domestic products," Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said at the W20 meeting.

Agreeing that gender inequality restricts the development and poverty eradication efforts in developing countries, Erdogan stressed the importance of investment in creating job opportunities for women.

Globally there are sufficient resources for funding the investment, he said. "Today China has enough resources," he added. "The main problem is to create trust among the world countries."