On February 5th, 2009, the metropolitan city of Karaj hosted a seminar for women entrepreneurs in Iran in fields of industry, agriculture, animal husbandry, information technology, art, services… etc. This seminar has been in continuation with seasonal seminars held in other provinces by the Association of Women Entrepreneur- Managers with the help of Mrs. Mahrokh Fallahi, Mrs. Efat Raeesi, and Mrs. Montazeri who is an advisor for the governor of Karaj. The number of participants in this seminar were more than any other seminar, mostly due to its proximity to Tehran.

We reached Fallahi animal Husbandry Institution and were welcomed by Mrs. and Mr. Fallahi. The tour of the institutions with Mrs. Fallahi’s detailed report requires a great deal of time. However, due to time constraints we were only able to visit the milking, milk storage, and diary production divisions. After thanking Mrs. Fallahi, who has bred the best cows, we headed to the governorship for the seminar.

Mrs. Montazeri, the governor’s advisor, was invited to give a speech. In her speech, she expressed her hope that these sittings will be a great opportunity for many women to demonstrate some of their success. After that, the governor himself gave a speech in which he touched upon the geo-position, population and the extent of the metropolitan city of Karaj as well as explaining its economy, culture, and social situation. The governor stated, “The biggest and oldest university that was established in 1926, eight years before the University of Tehran, is Karaj University of Agriculture. And currently, there are more than eight centers for higher education in this city with more than 62000 students, which is one fifth of the total population of Karaj. Considering its immigration capacity, approximately 15 tribes have settled here.” At the end of his note, the governor called for the establishment of a secretariat, in which women’s problems and issues are organized and prioritized to be reported to the governor with recommendations.

Moreover, it was requested from Mrs. Motashamipour, the operating manager of the association, to explain the formation of the association as well as its goals and programs. Mrs. Mohtashamipour’s speech was followed by Mrs. Firozeh Saber, the head of the board of directors, who presented an article regarding women entrepreneurship. She expanded on this topic by using some slides about the works of Mrs. Fallahi, Kamali and Sharodi (in fields of industrial animal husbandry, industry, agriculture and services.) Mrs. Saber expressed her hopes that someday works of all female entrepreneurs will be documented and their experiences will be accessible to young people. The rest of the seminar was spent on introducing all the women entrepreneurs and their works. These introductions are an excellent opportunity for the participant to become familiar with each other’s abilities, laying the grounds for future collaborations for the expansion and development of women entrepreneurship.

Lastly, before leaving Karaj, we visited the optical lens workshop of Mrs. Freshteh Mahmodi, and apiculture of Mrs. Raeesi.