Houston, Texas – On July 6, 2018, the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with Tunisian Talents United (TTU), held the first annual Entrepreneurship Forum, gathering more than 60 global thought-leaders and decision makers from Tunisia, the UAE, the United Kingdom, France, and the United States.
Guests of honor, His Excellency Dr. Slim Feriani, Minister of Industry and SMEs reinforced Tunisia’s commitment to achieving innovation-led growth and Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield provided insight into Africa’s developing entrepreneurship ecosystem, drawing on her experiences as the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs (2013-2017).
In her remarks, Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield said, “Africans want democracy; it’s a core value but we must help them build it.” Following her momentum, H.E. Dr. Slim Feriani advocated Tunisia as the ideal location to manufacture and export to the Maghreb and European Union, saying, “[Tunisia is] open for business,” while mentioning that, “one teaspoon of Tunisian olive oil a day keeps the doctor away.”
Subsequent to the keynotes, His Excellency Faycal Gouia, Ambassador of Tunisia to the United States joined Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield and Minister Feriani for a discussion and Q&A session moderated by Aida Araissi, CEO of the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce. A panel featuring Kemal Farid (Managing Director, BlueVine Ventures & Farid Ventures), John Reale Jr. (CEO, Station Houston), Aruna Viswanathan (COO, AlphaX Decision Sciences), and Brad Burke (Managing Director, Rice Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship, Rice University),drew a robust reaction from attendees who were curious about each organizations’ role in fostering Houston’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.
During lunch, Councilman Jack Christie gave welcome remarks on behalf of the City of Houston and insight into the way Texans conduct business. Ambassador Gouia spoke about shared values and the importance of a U.S.-Tunisia relationship, before introducing the new Honorary Consul of Tunisia in Houston, Dr. Adel Chaouch. Dr. Chaouch, who is also a member of the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, reaffirmed his commitment to ensuring prosperous bilateral business ties.
The final panel focused on the learning experiences of C-level executives: Christina Lomasney, Modumetal (Seattle, Washington); Fathi Ben Grira, Menacorp (Dubai, UAE); Nabil Felah, Sens Critic (Marseille, France); Emna Ghariani, Veamly (San Francisco, California); and Omar Yaacoubi, Barac.io (London, UK). The event ended with closing remarks from Nejib Zaafrani, President of Tunisian Talents United (TTU).
