Third Qatar International Businesswomen Forum to take place in Doha

This third annual event comes after the resounding success of the first two forums in 2010 and 2011, and builds on this success with a rich agenda that reflects and highlights main theme of the Third Forum: "Preparing for a New Era of Empowerment in the Arab World".

In eight main sessions and a number of keynote speeches, the forum will discuss major timely issues, including prospects for the Arab economies and their implications for Arab businesswomen; the importance and qualities of Arab women entrepreneurs and some of their success stories; women engineers and their contribution to this important profession; the role of NGO's in furthering the empowerment of Arab women; the growing importance of social media for business success and how they can be put to use by Arab businesswomen, and an instructive session on investment and asset management under conditions of uncertainty which includes an assessment of whether women have the better temperament for managing risks.

Interspersed with these main sessions will be a continuation of the series of brief talks started at the 2011 forum under the title of "Is having it all possible for women?" in which a number of successful Arab and foreign businesswomen explain how they managed to combine career, marriage, and a happy family.

Mrs. Aisha al-Fardan, Vice President of the Qatari Businesswomen Association, explained, "While starting from an in-depth perspective on current and expected economic conditions in the region,the main concentration of the Forum's program is on issues of the hour concerning Arab businesswomen and Arab women's causes in general, as well as on the success stories of Arab women in many professions and businesses."

The Forum is attracting considerable interest and the number of delegates is now slated to exceed 800participants including officials and policy makers, business leaders of both genders, representatives of international and regional development and social institutions and NGOs, the cultural and artistic community, Arab and international media, and many others.

Commenting on the size of participation expected, Mr. Raed Chehaib, Chief Executive Officer of Interactive Business Network, pointed out, "The Forum in its third year is gaining growing appeal and importance regionally and internationally with delegates, speakers and panelists coming from Europe, the United States, Canada, Europe, Russia and as far away as Australia, in addition to the Arab world."

A distinguished group of speakers and panelists will be hosted at the Third Forum including Barton Cahir, President of Exxon Mobil Qatar; Wael Sawan, Executive Vice President and Country Chairman, Shell Qatar; Clare Harris, Vice President, Gas Development-Shell Qatar; Dr. Saad Al Barak, Chairman, ILA Group; Reem Badran, Member of Parliament and Vice Chairman of the Amman Chamber of Commerce, Jordan; Dalal Kaki, Director of the Makkah Chamber of Commerce; Mary Macpherson, Program Director, MENA Businesswomen's Network, USA; HE Fatima Al Jaber, Chairman of the Emirates businesswomen Council; Lord Michael Hastings, Global Head of Citizenship and Diversity, KPMG London; Hala Latouf, ex Minister of Social Affairs and Development, Jordan; Huda Jalal Yassine, President of the Federation of Arab Women Investors, Egypt; Tatiana Gvilava, President of the All-Russia Public Organization of Businesswomen, and many other specialists and personalities.

And as an indicator of its growing importance and relevance, the Third Qatar International Businesswomen Forum has attracted sponsorships from 26 leading companies, banks, cultural and social institutions, and media companies operating in Qatar, the rest of the Gulf, the Arab world and at the international level.

These include Exxon Mobil, Shell, Maersk Oil, Occidental Petroleum, Conoco Philips, Qatar Fertilizer Company (QAFCO), Qatar Petrochemical Company (QAPCO), Qatar Petroleum, Al Ahli Bank, Qatar International Bank, Barwa Bank, Commercial Bank, Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (Academic Partner), Qatar Airways (Official Conference Carrier) Al Fardan Automobiles (Official Car), The British Council (Cultural Partner), A2A Productions, Argaam (Website Partner), Al Maraah Institution, Oxford Business Group, Jamila, Private Sector Qatar, Qatar Today, Inspirational Woman, HIA Magazine and CNBC Arabia (all Media Partners).

As the date of the Forum in the third week of October approaches, there is growing anticipation for what promises to be one of the major events on the regional conferencing calendar this year.