Entrepreneurship Symposium In Algeria A Success
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Nearly 400 people recently packed a two-day symposium on entrepreneurship held in Algiers. One of the sponsors was the Institute of National Commerce (INC), WDI’s partner in Algeria.
The symposium was a continuation of work by WDI as part of the Educating Managers, Promoting Linkages and Opportunities Initiative project, a partnership between WDI, INC and the Middle East Partnership Initiative. One of the achievements of the project was the opening of a Career Center at INC, the first in the country. Since then, 3,500 students from INC and other schools have found jobs thanks to the Career Center.
On the symposium’s first day, the attendees –students from INC and other schools as well as local business owners and budding entrepreneurs – listened to talks by the Ministry of Higher Education and various professors from Universities in France, United Arab Emirates, Canada and the U.S research into what type of environment is needed for entrepreneurship to flourish.
On the symposium’s second day, about 170 people heard WDI Consultant Tom Devlin give a presentation about INC’s Career Center. His presentation provoked a lively discussion among participants about career centers and human resources management. Many questions centered on how the global economic crisis is affecting the entry-level job market.
During the afternoon of Day Two, the visiting professors served as judges of a business plan competition. A female student from INC won and was awarded seed money for her business idea – a spa.
“There was a very diverse crowd, and they came away with a lot of great insight into the culture necessary for entrepreneurship to prosper,” said WDI Project Manager Makiko Omitsu.
The event received substantial media coverage. There were four newspaper articles, two radio interviews, three television interviews, and two magazine articles.
While in Algeria, Omitsu also met with the INC staff, spoke to students about the Career Center and observed classroom sessions. The tour included a look at a new classroom used for videoconference learning.
The group talked about the Career Center moving towards sustainability, and plans were made for key INC stakeholders to visit WDI in Ann Arbor later in the summer.
