Glittering line-up at Business Conference in Syria surpasses all expectation
H.E. Mrs Asma al-Assad, first lady of Syria, hosted the Women in Business International Forum in Damascus from 20-22nd May. Over 2000 delegates attended (including many men) and attended sessions focusing on Human Resource Management, Public Relations and Media Management, Strategic Business Leadership, Financial Planning and Managing Work Life Balance. The underlying philosophy of the conference was to promote equal partnerships across genders, politics and cultures to promote mutual understanding in the business world.
The international array of speakers included H.E. Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, H.E. Mrs Ermine Erdogan from Turkey, H.E. Mrs Benazir Bhutto, HH Sheikha Hissah Saad Al-Sabah from Kuwait and Sally Vanson from the Performance Solution. Sally moderated a panel of keynote speakers from Syriatel, Oman Petroleum Development, Planit Consulting and the Syria Consulting Bureau, where the key differences between Human Resources and Human Potential were actively debated, before running a highly energised and interactive workshop on Strategic Business Leadership.
Appearing live on Syrian Television, Sally Vanson said " this ground breaking conference will have a major systemic impact on the way large and small business are run in the Middle East, on male/female co-operation and has provided inspirational opportunities for mutual support and networking. The tremendous hospitality provided by the Syrian people can only assist in accelerating the development of the tourism industry and in continuing harmonious relationships with colleagues across Europe. I have made some great contacts and am looking forward to returning later in the year to work with local organisations and empower them to run our programmes for themselves. I would like to congratulate our female colleagues in Kuwait for getting the right to vote this year, and also give heartfelt thanks to H.E. Mrs Asma al-Assad for her patronage and commitment to this event and for her hospitality in hosting a dinner and a speakers reception."
H.E. Benazir Bhutto said that " we must never take no for an answer, never must we allow others to tell us we cannot achieve our potential", and all of us at The Performance Solution are delighted to be working with Women in Business International and will be forging closer working relationships with Middle Eastern partners during 2005/6.