Eight North African Businesswomen Visit Atlanta Oct. 6-7

Eight businesswomen from Algeria and Tunisia will be visiting Atlanta Oct. 6-7 under a program of the U.S. Commerce Department that seeks to encourage commerce with North African countries through forming partnerships with counterparts here.

“The visit by these executives to Atlanta and other cities in the U.S. demonstrates the success of the program,” Fatiha Coulombe, a founder of the LaGrange-based international consulting firm, Phare Associates LLC, told GlobalAtlanta during a telephone interview.

Ms. Coulombe, who is a native of Morocco and participated in the visit of U.S. businesswomen to Algeria and Tunisia last year, said that already a Web site is being developed so that participants in the program will be able to remain in touch on a day-to-day basis.

“The relationships are just mushrooming,” she told GlobalAtlanta during a telephone interview. “There is a great deal of potential that could benefit both the Americans and the North Africans.”

The North African businesswomen have been selected by U.S. embassy personnel on the basis of their expertise in such areas as information and communications technology, feature and documentary filmmaking, software development, technology incubation and Web-based training.

The Georgia Tech Center for International Business Education and Research will host a forum on Wednesday, Oct. 6, where they will meet with local businesswomen and professors at the Georgia Institute of Technology, who will discuss developments in accounting, marketing and information technology.

A luncheon will be held on behalf of the visitors on Thursday, Oct. 7, at the World Trade Center Atlanta. During the luncheon, presentations will be made by Judy Quick, a professor at Georgia State University who participated in the launching of the Business Women’s Training Program at the Caucasus School of Business in Atlanta’s Sister City Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia and Samia Spencer, honorary consul of France in Alabama.

One-on-one meetings with the visitors to discuss business opportunities also will be available later that day. To arrange a such a meeting call, Crystal Porter at (404) 488-8400 or send an e-mail to intl@globalexecwomen.com

The cost of attending the luncheon at the World Trade Center is $25 for members and $30 for guests. Call Patrick Tonui at (404) 880-1562 to make a reservation.

To learn more about the Georgia Tech program, call Mark Ballam at (404) 894-4379.