" Dear Shaimaa, we have received the recommendation by our principal for having this session with you."
"Please kindly introduce yourself?"
/During the Past 17 years I was heavily engaged in a diversified portfolio of professional, developmental and Volunteering activities in local, governmental, national, and international organizations, which had its impact on my personal and professional life, and gave me a tough experience of Non-Profitable and Business Oriented Organizations covering different aspects.
As the 1st female from Egypt doing my Euro Med Voluntary Service (EVS), I have participated in the 1st Euro Med youth parliament, and afterward –in my professional life- being the 1st & only female & also the youngest holding a managerial position among the other ETPs. The TVET project was always an extra mile ahead in my professional career but the challenge was transferring the know-how by giving young people the chance to experience what I went through.
Then, I joined TVET II as the Head of the Policies & Strategies Unit, TVET Governance, Egypt/ EU, by supervising several files such as developing a national TVET strategy & law, developing a financial & expenditure system for TVET in Egypt and enhancing the social perception of TVET in Egypt.
In August 2018, I joined the Federation of Egyptian Industries (FEI) as the Director of International Affairs & Development Partners’ Relations beside conducting consultancy assignments with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and GIZ. I’m also the Vice Chairman of the BUSINESSMED TVET Committee.
This year, I have been selected (as the first Egyptian) as B20 task force member (Future of Work & Education Task Force) which I am working on developing policy paper to be presented to the G20.
"We understand that Saudi Arabia is the hosting partner for the fifteenth G20 Summit held in Riyadh few weeks ago which B20 was one of the key engagement groups. Please tell us more about the key highlights in relation to the motto captioning “Transforming For Inclusive Growth” being the pillars under B20 Saudi Arabia."
/First of all, I would like to congratulate KSA for the excellent organization and the outstanding outcomes of the G20 & B20 this year. Despite all the challenges that affected the entire world this year due to the pandemic, Saudi Arabia could successfully run the summit & turning these challenges into opportunities, which were reflected clearly in the down to earth & implementable resolutions suggested by the task forces.
The exclusivity of having a “Women in Business Council" for the first time in the B20s clearly shown the new vision of KSA 2030 & their focus on empowering women & giving special focus to facilitate women existence in the business sector & solving any challenges that women faced whether in the work place or in doing her own business.
B20 has several task forces such as digitalization, trade & investment, finance & infrastructure, energy, sustainability & climate, future of work & education as well as integrity and compliance. Overall, a cross cutting theme of promoting & supporting SMEs, entrepreneurship & sustainable development goals (SDGs).
They took into consideration of all the outcomes from the previous B20 summits to leverage on existing efforts & not to start all over again by creating a parameter to measure the development of each recommendation after getting the approval of the G20.
"Besides the prominent roles with B20, you are also the Director of International Affairs & Development Partners Relations with Federation of Egyptian Industries, what are your key responsibilities in terms of international community development?"
/As the Federation’s focal point with all the international entities & development partners, I shoulder huge responsibility to understand the different needs of manufacturers across different industrial sectors & try to help out fulfilling these needs. It could be through signing MoUs with other federations of industries in other potential countries to facilitate cooperation, trade & investment or joint venture opportunities towards arranging official trade missions.
In the other hand, exploring & being a member in distinguished business platforms to open channels of communication between different mentalities, markets & trade & investment potential markets or even discovering obstacles & causes & how to advocate to overcome them.
Sometimes we work on directing and redirecting the objectives of the development partners to offer support to fulfil foreseen needs of the business sector via experience sharing & know-how transfer in different areas such as capacity building, vocational training, etc
"Well, our audience love to know more about your beautiful country, Saudi Arabia especially in the areas of investment opportunities. For business community, is there any specific trade show or sizeable M.I.C.E campaign in year 2021?"
/Well, this question has to be addressed by the Saudis. But I’m also a lover to KSA J Changes & reforms taking place in KSA are very obvious to everyone. Whether these changes are in trade, industry & investments facilitations, or gender issues, IT & digitalization.
My home country is Egypt and there is a huge reform in different areas which is taking place there as well. Local government is approving a new law for investment, implementing mega national projects in different regions, establishing new free zones, investing in infrastructure, giving a very special focus on technical & vocational education & training, etc all these elements are paving the road to an upcoming different and better Egypt.
"How do you see Asean countries such as Malaysia? Have you been to Malaysia?"
/Unfortunately, I have never been to Malaysia. Hopefully very soon I will right after the current pandemic.
ASEAN countries in general, Malaysia & Singapore in specific are considered the tycoons in so many fields covering industries such as education, tourism, technology and various ideal investments etc.
The Malaysian experience in reform is seen as a successful model to be taught. We, as Egyptians, we look up high to the Malaysian reform experience.
"For corporate community, should our audience plan to undertake international affairs related position, any useful guidelines or knowledgeable insights for them to follow?"
/I believe in the importance of diversity. Generally, my advice will be diversifying your portfolio, enlarging network of partners, expending your markets, join as many important platforms as you can by harvesting the potential resources.
Besides that, understanding the needs & exploring the new trends by doing your best to fulfil these needs. You may begin by solving and supporting the clients towards new horizons.