"Côte d'Ivoire Business Seminar" will be held online on 6 July

UNIDO ITPO Tokyo will jointly organize a seminar with the Embassy of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to promote business and investment in Japan and Côte d’Ivoire.

The seminar will be opened with the remarks from the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to Japan. Following the remarks, the Director General of the Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI) will introduce the latest investment climate and business opportunities in Côte d’Ivoire. The seminar will then receive the speakers from Union of Big Companies of Côte d’Ivoire (UGECI) and JETRO Abidjan Office to provide experience and perspectives of the business situation on the ground. The Q&A will follow.

We welcome your registration.

Outline

Date:	Wednesday, 6 July, 2022
Time:	17:30 – 19:00 (JST)/ 8:30 – 10:00 (UTC)
Organizers:	UNIDO ITPO Tokyo Embassy of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire
Language:	Japanese/English/French (Simultaneous interpretation)
Registration fee:	Free of charge

Registration

Please fill your informaiton on the registration form

The participation link will be sent to the registered e-mail address on a day before the event.
Please send your questions to the panelists via the “Question & Comment” box in the registration form.

Programme

17:30/8:30 (JST/UTC)	Opening Remarks	H.E. Mr. Jérôme Klôh WEYA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to Japan
17:35/8:35	Opening Remarks	H.E. Mr. Katsuya IKKATAI Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Côte d’Ivoire
17:40/8:40	Keynote Presentation	Ms. Solange AMICHIA Director General, Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI)
18:00/9:00	Presentation	Ms. Rose DON MELLO Executive Director, Union of Big Companies of Côte d’Ivoire (UGECI)
18:10/9:10	Presentation	Mr. Daisuke MIZUNO Director general, JETRO Abidjan Office
18:20/9:20	Introduction of programme	Ms. Aïssatou NDIAYE UNIDO ITPO Tokyo
18:25/9:25	Q&A
18:55/9:55	Closing Remarks	Mr. Tidiane Boye UNIDO Representative in Côte d’Ivoire and Togo

Biography of Speakers

	H.E. Mr. Jérôme Klôh WEYA Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Côte d’Ivoire to Japan Graduate of the Higher School of the National School of Administration of Abidjan (ENA), the International Institute of Public Administration of Paris (IIAP) and the International Institute of Diplomatic Studies in Cairo, Egypt, Ambassador WEYA joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1981. He held several positions of responsibility in the Central Department and in various Embassies and Permanent Missions of Côte d’Ivoire abroad, notably in Morocco, Geneva and Vienna. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador of Côte d’Ivoire to Japan, Ambassador WEYA was Head of Cabinet and then Director of Cabinet of the Minister of Foreign Affairs. Multilateralist, Ambassador WEYA has participated in several international meetings and negotiations in the framework of, among others, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCAC) in Bangkok, Thailand, and Sao Paolo, Brazil. the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Vienna, the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, the founding conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Marrakech, Morocco, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva. Ambassador Jérôme Klôh WEYA is an Officer of the National Order of Cote d’Ivoire and Officer of the Order of Sport Merit of Cote d’Ivoire.
	H.E. Mr. Katsuya IKKATAI Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Côte d’Ivoire Ambassador Ikkatai joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1988. Since then, he has been appointed to positions in; Embassy of Japan in Senegal in 1991, Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1993, Embassy of Japan in Belgium in 2003, Embassy of Japan in Thailand in 2007, Minister’s Secretariat and Cabinet Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat (Assistant to the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary) in 2009, Director, Overseas Japanese Nationals Security Division, Consular Affairs Bureau in 2010, Minister, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry 2012 Director, Trade Examination Division, Trade Control Department, Trade and Economic Cooperation Bureau, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in 2012, Deputy Director, Employment Development Department, Japan Organization for Employment of the Elderly, Persons with Disabilities and Job Seekers in 2014, Minister, Embassy of Japan in Switzerland in 2016, Chief Foreign Minister of Tokyo in October 2019. Since November 2021, he is appointed as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Cote d’Ivoire and Togo. From January 2022, he also oversees the Republic of Niger.
	Ms. Solange AMICHIA Director General, Centre de Promotion des Investissements en Côte d’Ivoire (CEPICI) Appointed on 08 September 2021, by decree signed by the President of the Republic of Cote d’Ivoire, Solange AMICHIA is the CEO of the Investment Promotion Centre in Côte d’Ivoire. She was Deputy CEO of this organisation since February 2014. Before joining CEPICI, Solange AMICHIA spent most of her professional career abroad, in France and in the United States. She was Senior Vice President in the Investment Bank of Société Générale (SGCIB) in New York until 2013, and has more than twenty years of experience in the investment banking industry. A bilingual French-English professional, she graduated from the E.D.C Business School in Paris in 1983, with a specialization in SME management. She also holds several certificates in Finance, Professional Project Management (PMP) and Information System Design. She is an expert in project management, information system design, capital market products and investment promotion, with a focus on results and performance. She has a thorough understanding of the challenges of the private sector. Since 2016, she has coordinated the organisation of several fora and summits in Cote d’Ivoire on behalf of the Presidency of the Republic of Cot d’Ivoire. Under her auspices, the Africa CEO Forum, the Mo Ibrahim Governance weekend, the regional Women Entrepreneur & Finance Initiative (We-Fi) Summit and the Universal Postal Union (UPU) Congress were held. Since 2019, she is the Special Advisor to the President of the Regional Council of Agnéby-Tiassa, in charge of economic projects. Her mission is to promote the “Agnéby-Tiassa” destination, manage the project portfolio and develop the human capital of the AGNÉBY-TIASSA region. She is Vice President of the DELAYAM Institute, a foundation for active citizenship. She is committed to a more sustained involvement of the citizen through different programmes such as the patronage of competence, star classes of excellence, the creation of an Observatory of citizenship and public action and a platform of exchanges to bring the public authorities closer to the citizens. The foundation wants to be a power of proposal. She is passionate about the environment and sustainable development. She loves travelling and the culinary discoveries of countries; she is also passionate about African art and agriculture.
	Ms. Rose DON MELLO Executive Director, Union of Big Companies of Côte d’Ivoire (UGECI) Mrs. DON-MELLO Rose has 35 years of professional experience in blue chip companies, including 15 years as Executive Director of UGECI, a manufacturer Employer’s Association in Côte d’Ivoire. UGECI comprises 29 top rank large scale manufacturing companies operating in different fields of the industry: cement, agro-industry, packaging, steelworks, beverages, textile, breweries etc… Those leading companies provide 45.000 direct employment and total a turnover of 4 million USD. Mrs DON-MELLO Rose graduated from a top business school in Abidjan (Ecole Supérieure de Commerce Abidjan) and started her professional career in Audit and Accounting. Then, she moved to an Advertising Company as Chief publicist for 4 years. In 1992, she joined The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) as the Regional Marketing Manager for West & Central Africa Region. In 1996, she joined another multinational, NESTLE, where she operated as a Regional Group Brand Manager for West & Central Africa, in charge of Beverages and Sugar Confectionary. In 2000, she moved to Standard Chartered Bank, which had recently branched in Cote d’Ivoire, as Head of Consumer Banking Division where she ran the agency network of the bank and the customer portfolio of private clients and small and medium-sized businesses. After 3 years, she decided to work as a self- entreprene ur setting up a company in the fishing industry. Coopted by her peers, she also chaired the Union of Fishing Shipowners. The experience acquired in defending the interests of several companies naturally led her to accept, in September 2007, the position of Executive Director at UGECI, the Employer’s Association of Large scales manufacturing Industries in Cote d’Ivoire (UGECI). As the Executive Director of this Employer’s Association, she deals with the Ivorian Authorities and International Donors on all issues that could impact the competitiveness of the manufacturing sector such as legal, tax and labor related issues, international trade, industrial infrastructure, environmental issues etc… In 2013, she was awarded as the best Manager of Professional Organizations granted by the Ivorian Employer’s Association and in 2022 as Officer of the National Grade for her contribution to the development of Private Sector.
	Mr. Daisuke MIZUNO Director general, JETRO Abidjan Office In 1993, he joined the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). He has worked in the Planning Department, Business Development and Human Resources Support Department, as well as in the JETRO’s Domestic Offices: Aomori, Gifu, and Okinawa (as General Director/Representative). He has been stationed in French-speaking countries for a long time: 1998 – Director of Brussels Office, Belgium; 2013 – Deputy General Director of Paris Office, France; 2014 – He opened the Rabat Office, Morocco, and served as General Director/Representative; 2021 – General Director/Representative of Abidjan Office, Cote d’Ivoire.
	Ms. Aïssatou NDIAYE UNIDO ITPO Tokyo Africa Advisor Ms. Aissatou NDIAYE is the Advisor for UNIDO ITPO Tokyo since 2019. Based in Senegal and covering French-speaking West African countries, her mission is to support Japanese companies, business/industrial associations and investment promotion agencies to identify opportunities for investment projects and technology transfer from Japan. Ms. Ndiaye began her career with the British company Imperial Brands where she held various Senior management positions including Quality & Environment for Senegal, Regional Chemical Laboratory for Africa and Middle East, Corporate Affairs then Head of Regulatory Affairs for the West Africa Cluster covering 13 countries. In 2017, Ms. Ndiaye joined the Swiss Food company Nestlé as the Regional Public Affairs and Issue Manager for the Central and West Africa region. She led the development and implementation of Stakeholders engagement through partnerships, shared value initiatives and communication platforms to enhance the company’s reputation. With almost 25 years of experience in the FMCG industry, Ms. Ndiaye graduated first in Masters of bio-industrial technologies (University of Orleans, France), then in Engineering in agro-food technologies (Sup-Agro Montpellier, France) and finally a joint Executive MBA from Paris Dauphine University and IAE Paris Sorbonne.
	Mr. Tidiane Boye UNIDO Representative in Côte d’Ivoire and Togo Mr. Tidiane Edouard BOYE is currently Representative of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in Côte d’Ivoire and Togo. Previously, Mr. Boye served in the Partnerships Department of UNIDO where he was following more specifically partnerships with the Private Sector and Development Financial Institutions. He was also a member of the coordination teams of the first two Program for Country Partnership (PCP) Pilots (Senegal and Ethiopia). He also served at UNIDO for ten years as an Industrial Development Specialist in the Investments and Technology Unit where he was responsible for numerous investment promotion and private sector development programs in numerous African, European and Asian countries. Prior to joining UNIDO, Mr. Boye was Executive Director of the Business Association of Senegal for ten years. He has served as an Expert for several African governments in the areas of private sector development and sustainable industrial development. Mr. Boye has nearly thirty years of experience in industrial development, private sector development, investment promotion and partnerships. He graduated in Political Science and Economics from McGill University in Montreal in Canada and in Development Economics and Economics and Politics of Development from Cambridge University in the UK (Darwin College).