US embassy cable - 05ISTANBUL1283

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ISTANBUL 001283 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PARIS PLEASE PASS USOECD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: KDEM, KWMN, KMPI, TU, XD, XF, XI, Istanbul, BMENA 
SUBJECT: BMENA REGION BUSINESSWOMEN BRAINSTORM IN ISTANBUL 
 
REF: ISTANBUL 1080 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  On July 11-12, the Organization for 
Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) Istanbul Center 
hosted a workshop on "Building Awareness of Women's 
Entrepreneurship in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA)," 
at which some 90 participants from MENA and other countries 
brainstormed policy recommendations that will be forwarded 
for consideration at a Ministerial Meeting of the MENA-OECD 
Investment Program in Amman in November, 2005.  This OECD 
event was a useful complement to the MEPI-sponsored MENA 
Businesswomen's Summit held in Tunis in May, and to a 
Democracy Assistance Dialogue conference (reftel) held in 
June, where a participant stressed the need to include the 
private sector in the dialogue about increasing the role of 
women in public life in the region.  End summary. 
 
2.  (U)  Participants at a July 11-12 OECD workshop in 
Istanbul -- organized by the OECD's Center for 
Entrepreneurship, SMEs and Local Development -- discussed 
ways to support and promote women entrQreneurs in the region 
as a means of strengthening overall economic growth and 
performance.  Coming from all over the MENA region, and from 
OECD countries as well, participants attended plenary 
sessions, but spent most of their time in roundtables, where 
they addressed topics including capacity building, finance, 
project design and development, and building a public affairs 
strategy.  As host country for the event, the GOT sent Nimet 
Cubukcu, Turkey's Minister of State in charge of Women's 
Affairs, who addressed the meeting and acknowledged the 
social and other pressures that limit women who consider 
establishing businesses in the region. 
 
Roundtable Snapshot:  Turkish women share tactics 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
3.  (U)  In one roundtable setting, Meltem Kurtsan, a Turkish 
businesswoman and president of the businesswomen's 
association KAGIDER, addressed participants from Lebanon, 
Jordan, Egypt, Turkey, the U.K. and the U.S.  Highlighting 
that only 0.9 percent of women in Turkey's workforce are 
entrepreneurs, Kurtsan listed among the factors limiting 
women entrepreneurs in Turkey difficult access to credit, 
instability in market conditions, limited child and elderly 
care, poor intellectual property regulations, complex tax 
operations, and a "lack of role models."  Founded in 2002 by 
37 women entrepreneurs, KAGIDER has provided training to 60 
women through a business "incubator" model, has assisted 50 
women in establishing human resource consulting companies, 
and established the "Women's Fund" to finance 
non-governmental projects around Turkey.  KAGIDER cooperates 
with government agencies and lobbies for better data 
collection, access to credit and education, simplified tax 
regulations and quotas for "fair political representation. 
 
Talking to Government:  The Idea is So New 
------------------------------------------ 
 
4.  (U)  Roundtable participants were excited about KAGIDER's 
work, but one Lebanese discussant stated "the Turkish 
experience was not encouraging."  Initiating similar projects 
requires political stability, she said, asserting that only 
in Jordan, Morocco, and Tunisia would such a group be 
possible, but not in Iraq, Lebanon or West Bank/Gaza. 
Moreover, she believed Turkish women were starting with more 
empowerment within the family structure, which gave them an 
advantage over women in the MENA region.  Others around the 
table strongly disagreed with her assessment.  A participant 
from Jordan argued that other women in the region do have 
power in the family structure; think of the Bedouin women in 
Jordan, she said, or the "powerful mother-in-laws" in Egypt. 
She pointed out that a higher percentage of women in the MENA 
region than in Turkey were already involved in business, 
thanks to family businesses. Turkish participants argued 
their situation had not been so stable, and that their 
achievements had come despite instability created by 
financial crises, 100 percent inflation, and bad coalition 
governments. 
 
5.  (U)  The roundtable concluded with the group agreeing on 
several recommendations they would take back to the larger 
group.  Women entrepreneurs and those working on their behalf 
need public policy training, they said, to learn how to talk 
to government since "this idea is so new."  They wanted 
governments to facilitate, by means of easing restrictions, 
the formation of networks and associations.  Participants 
also agreed they must give governments concrete, achievable 
goals, and look for win/win situations.  Statistics, stressed 
one woman, are key to proving to decision makers that 
increased women's entrepreneurship and the building of 
networks among women entrepreneurs will lead to increased 
growth and decreased unemployment.  At the end of the day, 
women must present an economic argument and business case for 
why governments should support them in business, the group 
concluded. 
 
Workshop Conclusions 
-------------------- 
 
6.  (U)  The workshop's final press statement called on 
governments to provide greater access to credit for women, 
enhance statistical databases to inform public policy, and 
encourage women's entrepreneurship through publicity 
campaigns and an improved legislative framework.  The 
statement also recommended governments develop (or implement 
existing) gender discrimination legislation, consider gender 
issues in government policies and programs, and enhance the 
infrastructure, especially relating to childcare, that will 
allow women to be more successful in their professional 
lives.  The full slate of conclusions and recommendations 
from the workshop, as mentioned earlier, will be compiled and 
forwarded in the form of policy proposals to a Ministerial 
Meeting of the MENA-OECD Investment Program in Amman in 
November, 2005. 
 
7. (U)  Comment:  In the concluding session of a June DAD 
conference (reftel) on strengthening women's role in public 
life, one Pakistani participant stressed the need to include 
the private sector in the dialogue on this issue.  This OECD 
workshop did just that, and was a useful complement to the 
DAD event, and to the May MEPI-sponsored MENA Businesswomen's 
Summit in Tunis.  Not surprisingly, the OECD workshop 
resulted in some of the same conclusions, such as the need to 
strengthen data collection to understand better the situation 
of women in the region and to then use that data to make the 
case to decision makers that strengthening women's role in 
society will benefit the entire society. 
ARNETT