Khulud Halaby: WIB to create intellectual, social and economic interaction
Syria-Regional, Business, 5/18/2005

The Syrian woman has won considerable rights that enabled her to be on equal footing with man in all ways of life. A manifestation of this fact is mirrored in convening the International Women in Business WIB Forum to be held in Damascus on May 20-22.

"Due to enforced rules and regulations, the Syrian woman acquired access to new positions which used to be reserved to men, and in certain cases were even considered as taboo," said renowned Syrian businesswoman, Mrs. Khulud Halaby in a statement to ArabicNews.com. Mrs. Halaby who is the exclusive agent and managing director of DHL-Syria that the "Women in Business " forum which will be held under the patronage of Syria's First Lady, Mrs. Asma al-Assad is the very fruit of the great gains Syrian women have acquired. "Great hopes are pinned on this event to highlight the Syrian women's achievements and gains," she said.

She added that Syrian women enjoy legal rights, the very same as men, without any discrimination. These rights are in the constitution and all enforced legislation. There remains however some family and social restrictions which vary in strength with the social status, and can be extremist in certain cases. The target today is to encourage these women to develop their skills and broaden their horizon without necessarily breaking any social or family bonds.

Many Syrian women have been very active for several decades. They have excelled in various fields such as education, health, engineering, architecture, business, different types of arts, and neither last nor least, they have reached some remarkable positions in both the legal and political fields as lawyers, judges, ministers or members of the Foreign Office. Their achievements were not brought under the spotlight.

Khulud Halaby was born in Homs, received her school education in Syria and Lebanon and her university education in Lebanon, Canada and France, studying child development and psychology, business management and marketing.

Early 1993, after 18 years in Paris-France where she worked in the banking field, in construction and in market research for pharmaceutical products, she returned to Syria to join her father, the well-known Syrian businessman since the early fifties, Sirri Halaby. Citing her long experience as a businesswoman, Khulud Halaby said that her business experience in Syria is by far the richest, most interesting and most meaningful of her career. She explained that the difficulty in Syria lies not in how to manage the business itself, but more importantly how to manage the surroundings, and the unexpected. A high degree of professionalism, a good educational background, together with personality are the prerequisite of success.

Under the persistent efforts of Mrs. Halaby, DHL-Syria was in 1996, the very first company in Syria to become ISO certified.

She said that despite the presence of six other express courier companies in Syria, DHL-Syria has grown steadily over the years in size, in number of staff, in volume, in local network and in sales to a team of about one hundred members. She takes pride in being the first woman Country Manager, in the history of DHL worldwide, and the only one, here in Syria, to manage such type of business.

Mrs. Halaby who was elected a member of the Syrian National Committee which is the Syrian branch of the International Chamber of Commerce said the WIB forum will be an occasion to refute allegations that feminism is an element that is often used against women in the Arab Society." She added "a woman is born feminine just as man is born masculine and virile. She does not lose her femininity when she works and she does not have to, she can keep it. She should not have to use her femininity as a tool of seduction in order to achieve her business goals." She indicated that the Forum will create an intellectual, social and economic interaction between Syria and Britain in particular and Syria and the world in general.

Holding the Forum in Damascus is an important indication on position of the Syrian woman's active participation in the labor market, trade and industry, Ms Halaby concluded.

Previous Stories:
  On International Woman in Business Forum   (5/17/2005)
  International Women in Business Forum   (5/17/2005)
  Bank of Syria and Overseas in Lattakia launched   (5/3/2005)
  Syrian Airlines endorses agreement with Lebanese ME airlines   (1/31/2005)

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