On June 12-13, 2009 the annual conference of the Coalition of Women Business Associations (CAFA) took place in Romania. The 7th edition of the event was held in Ocna Sibiului, Romania. The event brought together representatives of nine women business associations from all over Romania, public officials and media representatives. The conference titled “The Time for Entrepreneurial Courage” provided a forum for discussion on economic issues faced by women entrepreneurs and strategies to address these issues. Guest speakers were representatives of the Ministry of Labor, Family and Social Protection and Ministry of SMEs, Trade and Business Environment, who presented some of the support programs available for small- and medium-sized enterprises in the tourism, manufacturing and services sectors. I gave a presentation on CIPE’s recent programs targeting women entrepreneurs.
The second part of the conference was dedicated to a strategic planning session. CAFA members have agreed to work together in a task force in order to draft amendments to a set of recent public decisions that have a negative impact on member companies. During the strategic planning session, the associations talked about the Coalition’s membership base, how to attract new members and how to increase CAFA’s visibility in the public arena. They also decided on a very ambitious work plan for the next 12 months. CAFA, which now comprises 19 associations of women entrepreneurs, was formed in 2004 with support from CIPE.
The event was very successful not only because it managed to bring together participants from women business associations all over Romania, but also it proposed a wide range of topics of interest for entrepreneurs. The fact that in a year of economic hardships these women (most of them owners of small- or medium-sized companies) decided to take a couple of days away from their businesses and participate in the conference shows the importance of this event and their level of commitment to CAFA. Also during the conference it became apparent that CAFA facilitated not only business among its members, but also networking and the development of beautiful friendships.
Published Date: July 28, 2009