July 11-13

Last month, The Center for Mediterranean Integration hosted over 80 members of the Syrian business community along with GIZ, the World Bank Group and IMO. Here are 5 takeaways from the Marseille meeting:

  1. Participants came away with consensus on the constituting statutes of SIBA, elected a board of directors, nominated two Honorary board members and appointed contacts for each represented country.
  2. Facilitated by the World Bank Group, attendees completed the board election process to establishing the organization and electing the board. While opinions varied and conversations heated leading up to the voting process, attendees were committed to collaborate and launch SIBA; representing the seed SIBA community attendees voted and represented others in remote locations through proxies.
  3. Participants represented the Syrian business and nonprofit sectors global presence. In attendance were businessmen and women from Armenia, Austria, Balkan States, Belgium, Canada, France, Italy, Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey, Switzerland, UK, UAE, and the USA.
  4. Collectively, participants discussed and agreed on SIBA’s objectives, membership categories and highlights from the proposed constituting statues that had been developed after the Frankfurt meetings in February.
  5. SIBA will play a vital role in uniting the global Syrian business community, supporting youth and women entrepreneurship, engaging host governments and the international business community in driving value for members.

The event was the first of a series that will take place globally to engage the larger Syrian business community. If are interested in recommending a SIBA event, hosting one, or receiving further details on this event contact us at media@siba.world.