Forward Magazine April 09 Issue Out

Dear Forward Readers, April 2009 was a special month for us at Forward Magazine. With Syria celebrating her 63d Birthday, the country launched the long awaited Damascus Securities Exchange (articles by Sami Moubayed, and Mustapha al-Sayyed, consecutively).  We published the first-ever Syrian interview with Paolo Coelho, the famous Brazilian writer (by Sami Moubayed), and recommended three Sufi books by Ruba Saqr. The cherry on April’s cake was in launching our new 6-page section, dubbed “Forward Shabab: The creative platform of young Syrians.” We investigated the way society looks at women who smoke in public in Rouba Shadoud’s “Taking a Secret Puff.” We also took a look at what young Syrians have in mind following the credit crunch, finding out entrepreneurship and venturing into new waters was top of mind for many youngsters (by Julian Weinberg). We also reported the suffering of Syrian Baccalaureate students sitting for their exams this year in Bisan al-Bunni’s “Passing the test.” The Tunisian Ambassador spoke to us about bilateral relations with Syria, and an array of cultural features decorated the April issue, among which is a special feature about Kulna Sawa’s newest music album, by Rafaa Hazzaa.In Forward Shabab, we ran a Syrian scoop about Louay Rifai’s guitar-led album (Vital) in addition to spot lights on a cool student from the Syrian Virtual University, with a cool instructor from the University of Kalamoun (Hani Tarabishi).

Homecomer: Ahmad Hashem, chairman of Rawasi Investing Group.

Face of the Future: Michel Arcouch, Bank Audi Syria and board member of the Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association (SYEA).

The April 09 issue of Forward Magazine will be available online in July