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and acknowledge that we do not know
everything. We should say "thanks" for
each opportunity we have to surpass
ourselves in battle and give it all as if it
were the last chance!
Q: What happened to you after
coming back from Qatar?
The UNCTAD/EMPRETEC Women in
Business Award has provided me with
incredible exposure back home in Pa-
nama. I have been featured in several
magazines and newspaper articles.
My achievements have also been fea-
tured in the Ministry's website (www.
amp yme.gob.pa/home/noticia/432/).
On 23 May 2012 I was invited to at-
tend AMPYME's launch of their new
Entrepreneurship Centre as the key-
note speaker, along with the Minister
for AMPYME, Giselle Burillo, and the
President of the Republic of Panama,
Ricardo Martinelli.
of whom eight are women and two are could even understand Arabic without
in management positions. With my the need of translation! It was a night I now appear regularly on a daily cook-
new business idea of developing pro- full of emotion. I have also apprecia- ing show broadcast on TV across Latin
ducts with gluten-free flour, I hope to ted meeting the women finalists from America. I am the only Panamanian in
triple this number of employees. I offer other countries with different expe- the show, which features women chefs
different types of training to my staff, riences and impressive achievements. from across the region and focuses on
including management as well as onto- I have also very much enjoyed discus- traditional Latin American desserts.
logical coaching on how to improve the sing with high-level investors at the The show is called "La Pasteleria".
quality of their life. World Investment Forum held on the
days before the ceremony. It was an www.utilisima.com/ch/television/cociiia/
Q: What has been your expe- eye-opener to me that even my small la-pasteleria.
rience as winner of the Third
Edition of the UNCTAD/EMPRE-
TEC Women in Business Award
held in Qatar?

I received the prize from Hamad bin
Abdulaziz Al-Kawari, President of
UNCTAD XIII and Chairman of the
National Preparatory Committee for
UNCTAD XIII. I felt as if I was living
one of those stories from A Thousand
and One Nights! So warm has been the
welcome by the audience that I felt I

business can benefit from that expe- At a press conference at the
rience. The award that we have won Chamber of Commerce in Panama
is not just for me but for my team in with Lourdes Navarro (right),
Panama. We dedicate it to all entrepre- Co-ordinator of the EMPRETEC
neurs -- those that dare to dream and programme in Panama, and
those that are brave! And, in particular, Annie Vial (left), President of
it is dedicated to the Panamanian wo- Vital Voices NGO Panama Chap-
man, because being a woman requires ter. Vital Voices, in alliance with
courage and love of life. To succeed, EMPRETEC, has developed a men-
we require determination to reach the torship programme for women in
goals that we have set and, most of all, Panama in which Melissa herself
we need to be humble in our hearts participates as a mentor.

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