DEAD SEA -- The Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) is providing more than 250 promising entrepreneurs, lawyers, business and civil society leaders from across the region with an opportunity to share knowledge and make professional contacts.
Besides exchanging ideas and experiences, participants will be hearing views of experts during a three-day conference which convened on Monday at the Dead Sea.
MEPI serves as the principal US Department of State initiative to foster democratic reforms and the advancement of prosperous societies in the Middle East and North Africa.
The initiative has devoted more than $430 million on 350 programmes in over 17 countries since it was launched in 2002. The more than 5,000 individuals who have participated in its programmes are eligible to join the MEPI Alumni Network.
Administered by AMIDEAST, the alumni network is active across the region and offers opportunities for networking, training, development and activities that encourage public service.
Participants are drawn from alumni of two programmes funded by the US Department of State's MEPI, which is structured in four reform areas: democracy, education, economy and women's empowerment.
The Legal and Business Fellowship Programme is designed to provide young women in business and law with opportunities to sharpen their skills in the US, while the Middle East Entrepreneur Training Programme provides intensive training for business and civil society leaders.
Participants in both programmes are selected through a competitive application process in 15 countries from the Middle East and North Africa as well as the Kingdom which hosted the first regional summit of the MEPI Alumni Network in February.
According to Greg Howell from the US Department of State's MEPI, alumni of these programmes include brilliant recent graduates and young professionals as well as successful executives and established leaders.
Howell told The Jordan Times that the two programmes offer opportunities for networking, training, development and activities that encourage public service.
He highlighted the benefits of bringing together over 250 people from various countries to develop business and personal relationships, expand peer networking and improve leadership and management skills.
"We have great success stories such as a Palestinian girl from the West Bank who got an internship opportunity in Coca Cola in the US and when she went back home she improved her business," he indicated.
"The programmes help participants make social and economic changes in their communities and to overcome barriers to cooperation," said Ray Smilor, executive director of Beyster Institute.
Participants can build friendships and relationships as well as do business with each other, he added, noting that the participants will have the opportunity to work with executive coaches and organisational specialists not only from the US but also from the region such as Jordan.
"People in the US and the region are the same, they have the same passion for success and to create prosperous communities to benefit the generations to come," Smilor remarked.
Najwa Tohme, a human resource director from Lebanon said that she learnt best international business practices during the programmes which had an added value to her work.
Onus, 27, a lawyer from Tunisia, is another participant who gained experience from the programmes and now advocates for an improved investment climate and legal reforms in her country.
She joined the programme in 2005 and built personal and professional relationships where she met a Moroccan lawyer and worked together for setting up a company in Tunisia.
By Omar Obeidat
© Jordan Times 2008
