250 businesswomen have confirmed their participation in the special ladies-day sessions on the opening day of the three-day 2003 Jiddah Economic Forum (JEF) at the Jiddah Hilton Hotel on 18 January.
The Forum will include the official launch of the “Prince Abdul Majeed bin Abdul Aziz Award for Excellence” which will annually recognize companies and personalities from the private sector, Arab News reported today.
“For the first time, the Forum, which is being held for the fourth consecutive year, includes sessions dedicated to issues of special interest to businesswomen,” JEC Chairman Amr Dabbagh told a press conference at the Jiddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry (JCCI) yesterday. As many as 900 businesswomen are registered with the JCCI, he said in the presence of JCCI acting Secretary General Mohammed A. Al-Sharif. Princess Sarah Al-Anqari, wife of the Governor of Makkah, Prince Abdul Majeed, will attend the inaugural ladies-only session on ‘Women in Business’. South Africa’s first lady, Zinele Mbeki, will deliver the opening address.
The Jordanian Prime Minister, Ali Abu Al-Ragheb, and former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov, who is now President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, will address the Forum. The Malaysian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Syed Hamid Syed Jaffar Albar, and the British Minister of International Trade and Investment, Baroness Symons of Verham Dean, will also deliver key addresses.
“Global competitiveness: Thinking globally, acting locally” is the theme of the Forum, which is intended to reflect the challenges facing businesses in the Middle East and the impact of global events on the region. Among the topics for open-panel discussions are the role of free trade zones and the future of family enterprises. A talented and diverse range of speakers representing a broad spectrum of the region’s political and commercial perspectives will address the Forum.
Speakers and panellists will include: the Minister of Finance and National Economy, Dr Ibrahim Al-Assaf; the Minister of Industry and Electricity, Dr Hashim Abdullah Yamani; the Bangladeshi Minister of Commerce, Amir K.M. Chowdhury; the Jordanian Planning Minister, Dr Bassem Awadallah; the Jordanian Minister of Communications and IT, Dr Fawaz Al-Zu’bi; Governor of Bahrain Monetary Agency, Ahmed ibn Mohammed Al-Khalifa; Vice Governor of Saudi Arabian Monetary Agency, Dr Mohammed Al-Jasser; Deputy Minister of Commerce for Technical Affairs, Dr Fawaz Al-Alamy, and other senior officials.
Dabbagh said that hundreds of the region’s leading businessmen and women, government officials and academics, together with many global business leaders and international visitors, would attend the Forum. “We are expecting to receive business delegations from Bangladesh, Jordan, Lebanon, Malaysia, Russia, and the UK, and a group of high-technology entrepreneurs from the Silicon Valley of the United States,” he added.
Topics for discussion on the opening day for businesswomen include “the developing role of new technology and employment opportunities for women” and “leading corporate strategy.”
Source: SPA
