Two Upcoming MEPI Conferences in Tunis Will Advance Leadership and Entrepreneurial Skills of Middle East and North African Women

May 20, 2005

For Immediate Release
Jerusalem

The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) will host two events in Tunisia in late May. The first is a three-day alumnae conference on May 21 – 23, 2005 in Tunis, Tunisia, for the U.S. Business Internship Program (BIP) for Young Middle Eastern Women. This alumnae conference will reunite the more than 40 young women (age 22 – 30) from the Middle East and North Africa who participated in the program in the United States from August - December 2004. This prestigious program placed the women in customized executive-level MBA coursework at top-ranked American universities and then provided them with internships at Fortune 500 companies in the United States. Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Ms. Patricia de Stacy Harrison will offer closing remarks for the conference on May 23, 2005. This conference is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State’s Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) and the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Office and is administered by America/Mideast Educational and Training Services (AMIDEAST).

The second event is the groundbreaking Middle East and North Africa Business Women’s Summit in Tunis from May 24-26, 2005. The Summit will provide practical business training, networking, and association building opportunities for more than 200 business women from 16 countries and territories in the Middle East and North Africa. The attendees are recognized businesswomen and organizational leaders from the region; many are also graduates of Middle East Partnership Initiative programs, such as the Middle East Entrepreneurship Training in the U.S. and the Business Internship Program. They will be joined at the Summit by top businesswomen from the United States

Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, Paula Dobriansky, will offer the keynote address on the opening day of the Summit on the theme of women’s potential to expand their business leadership to other realms, including the advancement of democracy and women’s empowerment. The U.S. delegation also includes Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, Ms. Patricia de Stacy Harrison, Director of the MEPI office, Alina Romanowski, and Vice Chair of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, April Foley. American businesswomen will provide training under the auspices of Women Entrepreneurs, Inc. (WE-Inc.), an American nonprofit business association advocating policy solutions that encourage business ownership by women and that assist entrepreneurs at all stages of their business development.

Women attendees will build peer networks, learn from regional and American experts, and be able to find new venture partners. As business owners and executives, they recognize their leading role in economic reform through business expansion, entry into international trade, and dynamic joint ventures to take advantage of the opportunities offered by reformed economic systems and trade agreements.

The Summit organizer is the Beyster Institute at the Rady School, University of California, San Diego, which is implementing the Middle East Entrepreneurship Training in the U.S., also a Middle East Partnership Initiative. More information about the Middle East Partnership Initiative can be found at: www.mepi.state.gov.

For information regarding press coverage of these events, please contact Stephanie Syptak (216 71 107 290) or Mejda Chergui (216 71 107 239) at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis.