EMPRETEC WOMEN IN BUSINESS AWARD 2010

FINALISTS ANNOUNCED

Ten finalists have been chosen for UNCTAD’s second Empretec Women in Business Awards.

The winners will be announced during the 26-30 April 2010 session of UNCTAD’s Investment, Enterprise and Development Commission in Geneva .

Empretec is a training and motivational programme intended to encourage entrepreneurship in developing countries. Empretec centres supported by UNCTAD now operate in 32 developing nations, and to date have trained over 150,000 aspiring entrepreneurs. Many have founded or expanded companies and have created hundreds of thousands of jobs. The Empretec programme began in 1988.

The finalists are:

v Olga Lidia Arean of Argentina , whose firm ConservArte S.A. offers preservation products

v Joy Simakane of Botswana , whose company Extramile Express PTY LTD offers customs-clearance services

v Vanessa de Figueiredo Vilela Araújo of Brazil whose firm Kapeh Cosméticos, makes coffee-based beauty products

v María de la Luz Osses Klein of Chile , whose Biotecnologías Antofagasta S.A. offers biotech products

v Guenet Fresenbet Azmach of Ethiopia , whose company Gigi Ethiopia produces fashion wear

v Lucia Desir of Guyana , who founded the firm D&J Shipping Services

v Lina Hundaileh of Jordan, whose firms Philadelphia , Chocolography, Rafawed Consulting, and Ammoun offer chocolates, other sweets, and consulting services

v Lilian Okoro of Nigeria, whose company Peace for the African Child Initiative produces educational entertainment

v Beatrice Ayuru Bvaruhanga of Uganda , whose Lira Integrated School offers education services

v and Vivivata Chivunga of Zimbabwe , whose company Viva Fashions offers fashion wear