São Paulo – The women’s committee of the Arab Brazilian Chamber of Commerce (ABCC), WAHI – Women Who Inspire, hosted on Thursday (3) its first meeting open to women interested in joining it. In the virtual meeting, which brought together over 30 people, guidelines for 2021 were presented.
Women from different areas, such as survey, foreign trade, law, communication, tourism, finance, and education, participated in the online meeting and talked about their career stories and their relations with the Arab countries. They were informed about the WAHI’s plans for the next year.
ABCC Institutional Relations manager Fernanda Baltazar talked about the creation of the businesswomen group of the B20, the business leader’ group of the G20, and said that the document that resulted from its meetings will be worked on by WAHI in 2021. The G20 Summit took place in Saudi Arabia, bringing together the leaders of the world’s largest economies.
According to Baltazar, next year WAHI will keep hosting webinars, establishing partnership with new women’s groups, and creating networks. The committee was launched last July, and since then it has hosted online events by women for women. The group has participated actively in the ABCC’s actions, including social and humanitarian campaigns.
Find out more about WAHI:
The women’s committee’s main goal is connecting Brazilian women to Arab women, particularly in business. “When we talk about business with the Arab countries, we usually think we’ll face difficulties,” WAHI chairwoman Alessandra Frisso (pictured at the top) said. The businesswoman believes there are some preconceptions about the Arabs. “It’s a very warm people, very similar to Brazilians,” Frisso said.
A director of the group, civil engineer Claudia Yazigi Haddad talked about the social actions the committee in 2020. Due to the pandemic, the group got involved in the ABCC’s donations to hospitals across Brazil. It also had a strong participation in the campaign made by Brazilian organizations to help Lebanon following the blast in August. “We at WAHI are always attentive to help those in need,” she said.
Historian Silvia Antibas, ABCC cultural director and a director of the women’s committee, talked about how the group will connect Arab and Brazilian women in culture. The ABCC works in culture hosting its own projects and supporting others. WAHI aims at helping to spread the cultural production by women from both regions.
ABCC professionals presented other areas of the ABCC that will play an important role in connecting Brazilian and Arab women. The ABCC International Office in Dubai was presented by analyst Mariana Marques and will bridge the gap with the Arab women. The Brazilian-Arab News Agency will publicize actions by the committee and show the work of businesswomen in both regions.
According to Frisso, WAHI will form work groups for 2021. The women interested in joining the committee will engage in them according to their professional areas. The first open meeting was joined by CEOs, presidents of ABCC partner associations, executives and businesswomen working in ABCC member companies, lawyers, foreign trade and exporting company professionals, as well as other women interested in the Arab world.
The actions carried out by WAHI in 2020 included the partnership with the Women Insite Trade (WIT) group, which is composed by women working in foreign trade and foreign affairs. WAHI and WIT hosted a webinar last September about the challenges and opportunities for women doing business with the Arab countries. WAHI also hosted a women’s debate within the Economic Forum Brazil & Arab Countries hosted by the ABCC last October.
Find out more about WAHI:
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
