Women Entrepreneurs from Syria
By HE Imad Moustapha


Find Original Article at:
http://imad_moustapha.blogs.com

February 25, 2006
Yesterday, Rafif and I were blessed by a group of guests that really made us happy and proud to host in our residence. The World Bank in Washington D.C. is holding a world conference of women business leaders and entrepreneurs, with businesswomen attending from all around the world including four from Syria.

My indefatigable friend Hind Aboud Kabawat with her inexhaustible energy, and great talent for public relations arranged for the whole dinner and had brilliant suggestions for the list of invitees. Eventually we had a memorable evening with a group of Syrian and American dignitaries, who savored the culinary delights of the Syrian cuisine, engaged in quality discussions of how to bypass the current US Syrian relations crisis and engage in a people to people diplomacy, and were happy to make new acquaintances or meet old friends.

Among the outstanding American guests attending were H.E. Richard McCormack the former Undersecretary of State and, currently, a Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and H.E. Theodore Kattouf, president of AMEDEAST and the former US ambassador to Damascus. Also present was Dena Merriam founder and convener of the Global Peace Initiative for Women, and Alfred Farrugia from George Mason University. From the Syrian community we had Mazhar Samman, president of Virgina Global, and Farah Atassi, President of the Arab American Communication Center. We also had Kareem Shora, the outstanding lawyer and activist involved with the Arab American Antidiscrimination Committee (ADC), George Ajjan, president of Ajjan Associates in New York, and Joseph Masoud a corporate financier with the Interstate group.

The honor guests were the four absolutely fabulous ladies from Syria who came to attend the World Bank meeting: Yasmina Azhari, Sonia Khanji, Hanan Esreb Adi, and Roula Zalhouf. Rafif’s comment after meeting and talking to these ladies was that she felt they were the best possible ambassadors of Syria at the World Bank meeting; they shatter the stereotypical image of Syrian women in the world of trade and business, and give a shining example of the achievements of Syrian women. Finally, everyone attending was grateful to Nadereh Chamlou, the Senior Advisor at the World Bank, for inviting these ladies from Syria and giving us all the opportunity to meet and get to know each other.