Arab businesswomen are being offered a series of activities in Bahrain that aim to empower them in their work and attract new entrepreneurs.

One of the activities was a workshop, entitled 'Women Empowerment through the Effective Use of Communication and the Media,' which was held at the Sheraton Hotel on Sunday.

The event was organised by the Bahrain Businesswomen's Society (BBS) in co-operation with the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) Investment Centre.

Centre chairman and Economic Development Board deputy chief executive Dr Zakaria Hejres explained that it was vital women were given the tools needed to empower them in the business environment.

He said that in 2005 the centre had been given a mandate by the Mena-Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Investment Programme to conduct programmes for the empowerment of women in the GCC, and this workshop was one of them.

Later this year, the centre will hold a financial education workshop and a foreign direct investment seminar for the private and public sectors and will sponsor similar events.

"We started our serious work by empowering women through media and communication," said Dr Hejres at the workshop.

"According to the World Bank Report 2007, the Mena region has the lowest number of female entrepreneurs and businesses women compared to North America and Europe.

"The workshop teaches women how to communicate in front of a camera and it is useful for heads of societies and those in government but especially business women who need to communicate their strategies."

More than 60 businesswomen took part in the workshop, conducted by Al Badeel for Training and Development general manager Rehab Sharif.

Participants were taught verbal intelligence, power phrases, public speaking and gestures for success through role-play and debate. Their presentations were recorded on video and replayed to them with suggestions on how they could improve their public speaking skills.

"Today the importance of employing media in a proper way and addressing the public is very important for businesswomen because they don't have as much exposure as men and this was not really addressed before," said BBS co-ordination and follow-up committee head Afnan Al Zayani.-TradeArabia News Service