HSBC participants during a visit to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC).

“I will use what I learned in this program to be the successful young business woman I want to be!” said Farah Debes from Jordan (far left) with other participants.

For a group of young Arab women soon to embark on careers in finance and business, a new partnership between AMIDEAST and international banking giant HSBC provided an opportunity to gain valuable insights into the real world that lies ahead.
 
The HSBC Financial and Entrepreneurship Awareness (FEA) Program, which brought together 24 young women from Oman, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates, focused on developing skills that the students — most of them rising college sophomores from business and finance-related majors — will need in today’s globalized economy.
The 10-day program, which took place at Wilson College in Pennsylvania, involved a range of activities designed to provide hands-on exposure to the realities of business and entrepreneurship. It culminated with a challenging assignment — to develop a business plan — with the added benefit of receiving feedback not just from professors, but also from local entrepreneurs.  
“I had the chance to learn about finance, banking, and the business world … [and] how to prepare a business plan,” said Farah Debes, an architecture major from Jordon. “The opportunity to meet entrepreneurs and learn from their experiences gave me an idea of what the real business world is like… They have worked really hard and become successful, and that makes me very optimistic!”
Like Debes, other participants came away confident they have the skills and know-how to start a business, despite having learned that it requires more planning than they had previously imagined. 
Jordanian Ala’ Arafat observed, “I am more realistic now. I know that it takes more than I thought [to start a business], but I also know that there are lots of opportunities waiting to be taken.”
The program included visits to Washington, DC, and Chicago. In Washington, meetings at the National Bankers Association, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the Bureau of Printing and Engraving exposed the women to the federal role in the U.S. financial industry. In Chicago, the women toured the Mercantile Exchange and spent a day at HSBC’s U.S. headquarters learning about topics such as financial literacy, social investing, and sustainability in banking.
The HSBC FEA Program is enabling young Arab women to acquire skills that enhance their employability, thereby meeting a vitally important goal in a region with extremely high rates of unemployment among women. Studies show that women-owned firms in the region create employment and generate revenues, and their owners are keen to grow their enterprises.
AMIDEAST President and CEO Theodore H. Kattouf underscored the importance of the HSBC FEA Program. “By introducing young women to the basic principles of business and finance, programs like this open up a new and important world of opportunity for them and help to lay the foundation for further engagement of women in the overall business environment in the Middle East,” Kattouf said. “This is an important goal and one that we all should support and nurture."