For the 8th year in a row, the New Arab Woman Forum convened on 11 May 2016 at the Phoenicia Hotel in Beirut under the theme of : Empowering a new generation of Arab women entrepreneurs.

The forum was held at a time when women in The Arab countries are playing a more prominent role in economic and business life particularly as entrepreneurs and innovators. NAWF 2016 brought together more than 400 participants including entrepreneurs, business and government executives, financiers and venture capitalists in addition to people representing incubators and accelerators as well as other players in the entrepreneurship ecosystem in the Arab countries.

The Forum, organized by Al Hasnaa Magazine and Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal group, featured interactive sessions, hands-on workshops as well as one-to-one networking opportunities. It will also highlight the experiences of entrepreneurs, innovators, coming from different countries and generations… The concluding stage also featured success stories of outstanding women pioneers who have taken the entrepreneurial leap and who will share insights of their achievements and future plans.

The 3-stages’ forum shed the light on the ways of empowering women through innovation and entrepreneurship that should imperatively be coupled with institutional mechanisms and high-level collaboration to bolster their work and projects. It will therefore appraise the road toward putting a business on a sustainable growth path, and the needed financial solutions to support growth. The participants also discussed how the digitally empowered generation is changing the way we do business and accessing new markets and segments traditional businesses are still lagging to serve.

Topics

The program’s interactive sessions focused on:
   The New Champions, Women with Disruptive Accomplishments
   Funding for Growth
   Education vs. Entrepreneurship: Which Path Wins?   
   Entrepreneurship Journey

Workshops

The conference featured several workshops aimed to empower entrepreneurs digitally and help them grow their businesses.

The Next Stage
When your business is up and running, you can’t stop still; you always have to be thinking about where it goes next and how to keep it going. Company growth is essential for long-term success, however, without the right tools and resources to effectively manage acceleration, businesses and startups risk facing a standstill or worse. This workshop is designed for startups, entrepreneurs and early stage companies looking to move their businesses to the next development stage. It covered the strategies, systems, and implementation techniques to grow an established startup entitled BreadBasket where professionals from different backgrounds answered the founder's questions on how to grow her business.
How to Move your Business to E-Commerce?
Most non-tech savvy entrepreneurs face difficulties setting up their businesses online. This workshop covered how to start selling online. From choosing a platform, payment methods and designing the product to crafting the perfect customer experience and tracking key metrics, this workshop goes through a step-by-step guide for everything they need to get started.
How to Innovate Like a Startup
Why do startups innovate faster than larger companies? What are the challenges and what can businesses learn from innovative startups. This workshop showcased practical case studies, concrete examples to introduce new ideas and innovations.
Founding Startups in Rural Areas: Constraints or Opportunities?

OrganizersThe conference, which was held at Phoenicia Hotel, was organized by Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal in collaboration with Al-Hasnaa Magazine under the theme: Empowering a new generation of Arab Women Entrepreneurs.