Programme 20^th-21^st July 2022

The UfM-UNIDO Women Business Forum 2022 will take place in a hybrid format. The first day being hosted by the UfM in Barcelona but also accessible online, while the second day will be hybrid (a limited number of participants attending physically and all sessions being accessible online).

20^th July (in Barcelona, Spain)

9:00-9:20 – Opening remarks

• Amb. John Paul Grech, Deputy Secretary General, Social and Civil Affairs, Union for the Mediterranean
• Amb. Fabio Cassese, Director General, Directorate General for Development Cooperation, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Italy (video message)
• Cecilia Ugaz Estrada, Director, Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women Office, and Special Advisor, Office of the Managing Director, Directorate of Corporate Management and Operations, UNIDO

9:20-9:30 – Presentation of UNIDO’s PWE White Paper 2022 on Women Economic Empowerment in the MENA region

by Neila Amara, UNIDO Expert

9:30-11:00 – Round Table 1: Alleviating barriers to entrepreneurial success and access to finance

Moderator: Serena Romano, Senior Gender Expert, UNIDO

Speakers:

• Gaëlle Ferrant, Economist, OECD (Women Economic Empowerment Forum)
• Melika Karrit, Director General of the Promotion of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, Tunisia
• Yomna El-Sheridy, President , BWE21 (Egypt)
• Doa Wadi, Executive Director, Business Women Forum-Palestine
• Ana Díez Fontana, Executive Director of Business and Entrepreneurs | Caixabank
• Roger Albinyana, Managing Director, European Institute of the Mediterranean (IEMed) and Project Promoter, Euro-Mediterranean Guarantee Network (EMGN)

Q&A from the audience

11:00-11:30 – Coffee break

11:30-13:15 – Round Table 2: Access to finance and Gender lens investments

Moderator: Dr. Carlos Conde, Head of the Middle East and Africa Division, Global Relations Secretariat, OECD

Keynote speaker/speaker:

Dr. Wissam H. Fattouh, Secretary General, Union of Arab Banks

Speakers:

• Andrea Tinagli, European Investment Bank Representative to the UfM
• Neila Amara, UNIDO Expert
• Myriam Fournier-Kacimi, Founder and CEO, SunGy (Algeria)
• Tamara Abd El Jaber, Amam Ventures Jordan
• Mr Ashraf Zeitoun, Team Leader, EBRD Green Economy Financing Facility and Green Value Chain programmes (Egypt)
• Jihen Boutiba Mrad, Secretary General, BUSINESSMED

13:15-13:20 – Presentation of the Visit to local business – Beatriz de Vicente, Managing Director Netmentora Catalunya

13:20-13:25 – Closing remarks – H.E Nasser Kamel, Secretary General of the Union for the Mediterranean

13:25-14:30 – Lunch

14:30-16:00 – Free networking sessions at the Palau

16:00-18:00 – Visits to local women-led businesses/business support organisations

21^st July (hybrid)

Expected participants: This session is targeted towards practitioners and beneficiaries: Women led business and women entrepreneurs from the MENA region and EU countries needing/wanting to grow their business by increasing their access to finance

9:30-11:00 – Take the leap! – Demystifying Access to Finance

by Mélanie Keïta, CEO, Melanin Kapital

11:00-12:30 – Gender lens Investments: Venture Capital, FinEquity

12:30-13:30 – Lunch

13:30-15:30 – Online Networking Meeting UfM & UNIDO: MENA Women Business Club initiative