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"Corporate Ambassadors Program - Tunis, Tunisia - May 4-6, 2009 "

From May 4 - 6, 2009, the Tunisian Network Hub, Chambre Nationale des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises (CNFCE) hosted its first Corporate Ambassadors Program, as part of its membership in the Middle East North Africa Businesswomen’s Network (MENA BWN), in partnership with the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) of the U.S. Department of State and Vital Voices Global Partnership. A delegation of top US executives, including The Honorable Alice M Dear (President of A.M Dear & Associates, former Executive Director of the African Development Bank) and Randa Fahmy Hudome (President of Fahmy Hudome International), traveled to Tunisia to take part in the three day program. The program centered around Strategic Planning, focusing on planning for growth and finding opportunities for your business during a period of crisis.

The first day of the program featured a study tour to the World Textile Company’s production unit, owned and managed by CNFCE member Mrs Neziha Ben Said. The WTC is a tissue manufacturing company located in the West of Tunisia, employing hundreds of people from the Béja region, 80% of who are women. The representative of the Ministre des Affaires de la Femme, de la Famille, de l'Enfance et des Personnes Agées, Mrs. Sarra Kanoun Jerraya, accompanied the group of 30 CNFCE members, Corporate Ambassadors and Vital Voices MENA Programs Manager, Martina Bennett, to highlight Tunisian businesswomen's achievements and lend her support. The group was also treated to a guided tour of one of Tunisia’s tourist sites, Dougga, by Mr. Nejib Ben Lasreg, Tunisian Archeologist and Historian.

May 5th featured the Corporate Ambassadors event where 130 business women and men, students and government officials were in attendance. Faouzia Slama, President of the CNFCE, and Martina Bennett, MENA Programs Manager at Vital Voices, welcomed the participants, encouraging them to seize the power of networking and continue to contribute to the growth of not only their companies, but also the community at large. The President of the Tunisian Union of Industry, Commerce and Handicrafts (UTICA), Mr. Hedi Djilani, and the U.S. Ambassador in Tunis, Mr. Robert Godec, gave moving opening remarks emphasizing the important role Tunisian businesswomen play in the economy and society as a whole. Mr. Djilani stressed the role of Tunisian women in all walks of life in Tunisia and especially among university graduates. On his part, Ambassador Godec highlighted the place played by women entrepreneurs in the United States where they 28% of all private-sector companies and employ some 13 million people. He added that the progress achieved by Tunisian women is “impressive.”

After a short break, two panel sessions followed focusing on Strategic Planning and Financing Women-owned Businesses featuring the two Corporate Ambassadors and Tunisian experts. Amel Bouchamaoui Hammami, Vice President of the CNFCE, moderated the first panel session, giving the floor first to Randa Fahmy Hudome to speak about “Strategic Objectives: Leveraging Public Affairs Using Traditional and New Media Tactics” and gave participants tips on using new media tactics in their strategy for growth. Salah Hannchi, Director of Parc Technologique de Borj CEDRIA, inspired much debate around his subject of intervention, “The cultural dimension of corporate strategy,” urging participants to add local content and values to products in order to maximize value-add, community satisfaction, and quality standardization. Finally, Hichem M’saad, CEO and Founder of VOLTA PV, provided a green perspective, presenting participants with strategies using energy technology.

After lunch, Leila Khaiat, Vice President of UTICA, moderated the panel session on financing, beginning broadly with Alice Dear speaking about effective negotiating techniques for women entrepreneurs to access financing. Ezzedine Saidane, Financial Advisor of Directway Consulting, then localized the discussion and gave advice to SMEs for accessing financing through banks in Tunisia. For the smaller SMEs, representatives from ENDA gave a presentation on their micro-credit programs in Tunisia that has dispersed over 441,000 loans to micro-enterprises throughout the country since 1997.

The event got great press coverage in all the major newspapers and national TV the next day. CNFCE Board Members, the Corporate Ambassadors and Martina Bennett spent the last day of the program beginning with a working session at the CNFCE office, followed by visits to CNFCE member's artisan workshops and boutiques. CNFCE Hub members were very pleased with the connections, partnerships, support, and training they received through the program and are looking forward to increasing their engagement with the MENA BWN, Vital Voices, and MEPI. The response to the program has been extremely positive and the participants left with a renewed passion for entrepreneurship and growing their businesses despite the uncertain economic environment. After the success of this event, the CNFCE further solidified its commitment to creating brighter prospects for businesswomen, and will continue to spearhead many more similar landmark events and programs in partnership with the MENA Businesswomen’s Network, Vital Voices and MEPI.

Press Coverage

El Bayane Newspaper, May 4, 2009

Online Press Coverage

http://www.ccitunis.org.tn/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=720...

http://www.lexpertjournal.com/details-Le_programme_des_ambassadeurs_d_en...

http://www.lexpertjournal.com/details--1556.html

http://www.infotunisie.com/encourager-lemergence-de-femmes-leaders

http://www.africanmanager.com/rdp_detail.php?art_id=115521

http://www.webmanagercenter.com/management/article-74808-tunisie-usa-des...

http://www.lapresse.tn/index.php?opt=15&categ=2&news=93694

http://www.tunisiaonlinenews.com/2009/05/05/tunisia-seminar-to-foster-sp...