The Emergence of Entrepreneurship and Innovation in the Arab World
UAE – Dubai: At a time of great reshaping, optimism and hope in the Arab world, entrepreneurs, especially the youth, have found new avenues in leading innovation. Large-scale transformations in some countries, combined with social dynamism particularly among the youth, have clearly put the employment challenge on the top of the regional agenda, with entrepreneurship being a key imperative. According to Mr Mohammed Jafar, CEO Talabat.com “Embracing talent and innovation is a key element to create a sustainable environment to advance entrepreneurship. This should be looked at as a “culture” rather than a “methodology”.
With nations already trying to diversify and evolve their economies, the Arab youth have caught on to the need of the hour and have begun driving efforts towards innovation and entrepreneurship. Undoubtedly powering the bulk of the Arab economies in the post 2020 world would be their youth. With projections of 82 percent of the population slated to be below 40 by 2020, the role that entrepreneurs would have to play in this young and vibrant workforce should be examined now more than ever. While many Government interventions on the regulatory front are on and are thought to have benefitted individual participants they have not had a tangible impact on the circumstances of the region’s youth overall. “Today, the GCC economy resembles in many striking ways that of South Korea.
However, South Korea has listed online businesses valued at more than USD 40b, while our region has none. We feel there is a rare opportunity to create a global leader in the Internet industry from the MENA region, and we expect not only one, but multiple billion dollar listed online businesses to come out of MENA in the next 3-5 years” says Mr Khaldoon Tabaza, Founder & Managing Director, iMENA Holdings
According to Mr.Fadi Malas, CEO & Member of the Board, Just Falafel “The Infrastructure, spirit, acceptance and culture for entrepreneurship and innovation in the UAE has made it the number one destination for global entrepreneurs to incubate their ideas and dreams here in Dubai”.
On the cusp of this socio-economic transformation, MICE Quotient presents The Arab Achievers Conclave 2015. The Conclave will host speakers, entrepreneurs, investors, Government authorities and budding achievers to connect and network under one roof. The Conclave will have a specific and deep focus on the rise of innovation, tech driven entrepreneurial ventures and the challenges and lessons learned from entrepreneurial Arab achievers.
The UAE and other countries in the region are at the forefront of the global entrepreneurship movement. Hundreds of initiatives are being launched in the Arab World to drive and encourage innovation and the spirit of enterprise amongst Arab Youth. “The prevailing monolithic, single siloed perspective on Arab Entrepreneurs needs to be shed, as has been demonstrated by the success of regional ventures. Talbat in terms of overcoming logistical problems, Just Falafel in terms of standardization, SmartAdbox in terms of a market disrupting innovation, are just some of the examples of the successes and the follow through that Arab Startups have delivered. A global investor today, is forced to stop and have second look at the regional entrepreneurial talent that’s slowly but surely becoming a force to reckon with.” Says Harshad Katikar, VP MICE Quotient.
About The Arab Achievers Conclave:
The Arab Achievers Conclave 2015 will host speakers from across the region, and attract over 150 professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, Government authorities and budding achievers to connect and network under one roof. The Conclave will have a specific and deep focus on the rise of innovation, tech driven entrepreneurial ventures and the challenges and lessons learned from entrepreneurial Arab achievers. The Conclave would also revolve around discussions on making the economic and social climate, in the GCC region more conducive to Entrepreneurship.
About MICE Quotient:
We are a team of young energetic and passionate individuals, with a rich history of meeting and exceeding industry expectations through focused business networking events and market intelligence services. We believe that our meticulous research and observation over the years in the corporate arena, across industries, give us the edge to deliver the best. Be it Meetings, Trainings, Conferences or Exhibitions, together as a team we deliver successful business events and knowledge sharing platforms aligned to our clients’ business objectives. Our endeavor is to strive to transcend our own achievements and supplement deliver much more on a global platform. In today’s competitive business climate, a successful organization must continually maximize its business potential which is only possible when market dynamics are well understood and organizations are willing to go a step forward to transform their business aspirations into reality. We empower our client organizations to do just this because knowledge is our business. At M.I.C.E Quotient we firmly believe in the adage we all make choices, but in the end our choices make us and this is why we are committed to aid our business partners in making the right choices by arming them with the right tools and acumen to succeed.
