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May 201120

A isha Alfa dan has had hefai sha e of p o d moments.Tho gh she ose f om thecomfo ts of a family-ownedb siness, as the Vice Chai -man of Qata i B siness Wom-

en Association (QBWA) she has become the face ofits ope ations, and is now seen as a ole model foothe aspi ing ent ep ene s. On the eve of the m chawaited second Qata Inte national B siness WomenFo m (QIBWF), to be held f om May 17-18 2011, shetalks to Woman Today abo t he pe sonal jo ney

with the Association.“Being ole models fo Qata i women p ts a bigesponsibility on s and it is now o t n to pay it

fo wa d. I am p o d of what Qata i women haveachieved so fa and the name they have managed tomake fo themselves, b t I also think that they haveto contin e wo king ha d,” she says.

How different will tHis year’s QiBwfBe?We a e b ilding on last yea ’s s ccess, b t we willbe mo e foc ssed on p omoting pa ticipation th o ghfo eign embassies in Qata as well as Qata embas-sies a o nd the wo ld, so we a e expecting delega-tions f om a o nd 20 co nt ies, and we have t ied toengage as many chambe s of comme ce and b si-nesswomen associations a o nd the wo ld as pos-sible. This fo m is a h ge initiative and it takes se i-o s effo ts to p ll it off, especially at this pa tic la

time with the challenges that the Middle East egionis facing. wHat Has Been tHe learning fromlast year? wHat were tHe take Homemessages?The rst time is always dif cult, and there are manylessons lea nt. Howeve , we always look positivelyat e o s beca se they become points that help simp ove the wo k we a e doing. This fo m is a ve yimpo tant initiative that the QBWA is nde taking asit p ovides a platfo m fo b sinesswomen and mento netwo k, exchange ideas and gene ate b sinessoppo t nities. It is also impo tant to int od ce Qata ib sinesswomen to the wo ld as an a key playe inQata ’s economy.

in last year’s conference, entrepre-neursHip was one of tHe topics tHatwas given mucH empHasis? could yousHare tHe success stories from last

year?Ent ep ene ship is always a hot topic. It’s one of

QBWA’s objectives to s ppo t ent ep ene s andp ovide assistance to b siness sta t ps and smalland medi m b sinesses. This s ppo t is being dem-onst ated th o gh the p og ammes we a e offe ing.Fo example, we delive ed a t aining p og amme lastDecembe fo women who wished to sta t thei b si-ness and pon completing the t aining p og amme,fo of the 15 have act ally sta ted new b sinesses.The p og amme is known as SME T aining and it wasdelive ed in pa tne ship with BNP Pa ibas Bank andthei Ca ee Cent e in Doha.

wHat is tHe one key factor tHatHinders tHe growtH of women inBusiness in Qatar?The e is mo e than one facto , b t in gene al, womenneed to hone thei b siness management skills andtake the lead in nning thei b sinesses. If they do

“Hone yourmanagementskills”

Under the patronage o HH Sheikha Moza Bint Nassertive Business Network (IBN), is organising the second on 17 and 18 May, 2011 at the Ritz Carlton Hotel - DohWthis event.Following the resounding success o the rst orum inexpand on the discussions o pressing issues o the ho

women in the Arab world.Given its already well-established status as a path breakQIBF in its 2011 meet will host a number o leading Gexpected to attract wide participation rom senior govebusiness, nancial and social afairs, as well as represenleaders in business and other pro essions and activities

Main topics on the ForuM’s agenda include:

1) Businesswomen Face-to -Face with the Current Econinto Opportunities.

2) Access to Capital - Challenges.3) Leading with Emotional Intelligence.4) Challenges Women Face in Family Business.5) Interview with the United Nations Representative to

Implications or Arab Women.6) Role o NGOs in Upli ting the Businesswomen and7) Organisational Capabilities and Strategies in Small a8) Per orming within Cultural Boundaries and Limitat

To Take parT in The second QaTar inTernaTional Businesswomenplease log on To www.inTeracTiveB.com .

QiBF:

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By SINDHu NAIr

8/6/2019 WT May '11 Hone Your Management Skills

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May 201122

that, with this s ppo tive envi onment and the eco-nomic g owth that Qata is witnessing, the sky is thelimit! Women sho ld be enco aged to play a bigge

ole in economic decision making.

and wHat is tHe one factor tHatfavours Qatari women over tHeirpeers in tHe region?

The stability and g owth of the economy, as wellas the s ppo t of the gove nment fo both men andwomen especially with the Qata National Vision2030 which st esses on women empowe ment andon gene ating mo e oppo t nities and vocationals ppo t fo Qata i women.

Qatar Has a fair numBer of womengraduating from its HigH-profileuniversities. isn’t tHat By itself anencouraging feat?It is enco aging, b t the gap between the ed ca-tional attainment and ate of pa ticipation in thewo kfo ce emains a challenge, and this challenge isnot only in Qata , it’s in the A ab wo ld in gene al;the gap is one of the la gest in the wo ld. The OECD(O ganisation fo Economic Coope ation and Devel-opment) epo ted in 2010 that only 29% of women inthe MENA egion a e engaged in the wo kplace. This

gure is signi cantly lower than the 69% reported inthe est of the wo ld and is indicative of a p oblemthat affects not only A ab women b t the g eatep od ctivity and advancement of the egion at la ge,the efo e, o ole as b sinesswomen association isto t y to add ess these facto s that hinde women,and imp ove women employment by add essing thechallenges and ove coming them.

tHere is an interesting sessionscHeduled at tHe forum on ‘is Havingit all’ possiBle for women. wHo willBe contriButing witH tHeir successstories in tHis? personally do youtHink tHis is possiBle?These sessions a e the e to give the oppo t nity towomen to demonst ate thei achievements in bothp ofessional and pe sonal lives, and we have so fave y inte esting speake s f om Qata and the egion.

In my opinion, women a e talented and they can

m lti-task by nat e. Yo see wo king moms who a eon top of thei wo k and p ofessional g owth. Theytake ca e of thei families, spend time with thei chil-d en, and manage thei ho seholds. The impo tantthing fo women to lea n is how to balance thei livesand achieve life-wo k balance.

How do you descriBe your personaljourney witH QBwa.I invested a conside able amo nt of time and effo tin b ilding a t stwo thy and c edible name fo theassociation, and I ‘d like he e to thank o Chai -woman, HE Sheikha Al-Anood Bint Khalifa Bin HamadAl-Thani, who p t he t st in me and s ppo ted meand the association, and witho t he this wo ldn’t bepossible. QBWA now is conside ed one of the fastestg owing b sinesswomen o ganisation in the G lf.

and How important is it to Have amentor?It’s ve y impo tant to have a mento – fo me it’smy fathe ; he is the one who aised me to be who Iam today. He ta ght me that we gene ate what wethink we dese ve. By wo king ha d, we b ild o ownf t e. He instilled in me the impo tance of nevefo getting o past; beca se witho t it, we have nof t e. And most impo tantly, he ta ght me that lossmakes s st onge .

tradition and culture vs careerand development. are tHey mutually exclusive?Not at all, we a e p o d of o t aditions and c lt e,and we sho ld wo k ha d to p ese ve them. Howeve ,the wo ld is changing, and being a ca ee womanis something to be p o d of. As I told yo befo e,balance is the key.

do you tHink you Have Had an easy start Because of tHe Backing of anestaBlisHed family Business? or wasit more difficult as you wereconstantly under scrutiny?It’s easy and dif cult at the same time; it’s easy be-ca se I fo nd all the s ppo t I needed f om my family,but it’s also dif cult because I was under pressure top ove to eve yone that I can do it

Tips For womenenTrepreneurs

Everything start s with a dream. But with goodeducation, ambition and dedication you willmake your dreams come true and make your-selves, your amilies and your country proud.Good ideas are not always easible businessplans, so make sure to have a solid plan as well.It’s always OK to ask or advice rom moreexperienced people.Network, network and network. Learning is ali elong journey, and we learn something newevery day.

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