entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurship Op-Ed

Building Bridges
How can a small country like Jordan position itself in Global markets? By Mohamad Khawaja

The conclusion of the Presidential and Jordan. However, everyone is diaspora communities in developing their
Summit on Entrepreneurship last April expecting the Arab diaspora to play a local economies in different ways. Japan
ignited a handful of new initiatives in greater role in the region, but only a few transformed itself by sending gifted Japa-
the region aiming to support local entre- have launched initiatives to fulfill such nese abroad to bring back ideas that were
preneurs and develop a comprehensive a challenging goal. adapted to Japan’s culture
innovation eco-system. Unfortunately, Speaking about the role of diaspora and needs.
very few of these initiatives were fo- in other parts of the world, I
cusing on reconnecting with the Arab can take Taiwan, which
diaspora in the US. Such a move has positioned itself as a hub
been challenging, despite the fact that of semiconductor manu-
it could provide a valuable support facturing, as an example.
mechanism for this region’s budding It did so by leveraging
entrepreneurs. its competitive ad-
Last year, during the Global Entre- vantage: The Tai-
preneurship Week in Jordan, I got the wanese diaspora
chance to talk to Sami Shalabi (a Bos- working in
ton-based entrepreneur who founded Silicon Val-
Zingku; which was acquired by Google ley. Examples
in 2007). He asked how the diaspora do not stop
could support Arab entrepreneurs. To there; Japan
be honest, I didn’t have an answer. A and India are a
few months later, Shalabi co-founded few leading ex-
(with Habib Haddad and Elie Khoury) amples of coun-
a special portal called “YallaStartup” tries that have
aiming at fostering innovation and ear- involved
ly-stage entrepreneurship in the MENA their
region. The three of them realized that
a lot of entrepreneurs in the region face
the same problems and thus decided
to build a community-based Q&A
platform to enable knowledge
sharing. The effort was ur-
gently needed and constituted
a generous contribution from
Arab entrepreneurs who found
success abroad.
In June 2010, the US del-
egation of entrepreneurs invited a
group of top-notch Silicon Valley
venture capitalists and entrepreneurs
originally from the region to tour the
area. I was delighted to see the positive
spirit among the audience in Lebanon

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On the other hand, India –
with the world’s second largest
diaspora next to China – has
doubled its income through
remittances. Meanwhile
the Indian diaspora has
mediated the massive
entrepreneurial energy
that led to the rise of
India’s Information
Technology (IT) and
IT Enabled Services
(ITES) sectors.
Based on
statistics
from
the labor ministries of the GCC, more than
half a million white collar Jordanian work-
ers worked in the Gulf region during the
past 40 years. Their efforts should be con-
sidered a great contribution to the welfare
of other communities and it makes sense
to tap into their brains. From my point
of view, the best model for Jordan could
evolve by encouraging the Arab diaspora
to set up their offshore research facilities in
Jordan. That cooperation could also offer
local entrepreneurs a bridge to the networks
of Arab diaspora business leaders abroad.
There are many areas in which Arab
72 | VE N T U R E M A GA ZINE | OCTOBER 2010
entrepreneurship
diaspora entrepreneurs could offer
their support to young startups
in the region. They include:
  Mentorship, mentor-
ship, mentorship
TechWadi, the leading
networking association for
Arab and Arab-American
professionals in the tech-
nology industry recently
launched TechWadi 100,
a network of highly accom-
plished entre-
preneurs,
executives,
and inves-
tors dedi-
cated to
mentoring
promising
entrepreneurs in
the MENA region.
TechWadi 100 charter
members pledged time,
energy, and finances, with
the goal of giving back to
their community in the
most effective manner.
Endeavor – a global
network of High-impact
entrepreneurs – recently
organized the Mentor
Capital program to create
a unique opportunity for
leading investors and promis-
ing entrepreneurs from Turkey,
the Middle East, the U.S. and
Europe, to discuss their chal-
lenges and opportunities. Both
initiatives have been successful.
  Angel investing
Jordan is in short supply of early stage risk
capital. Offering angel investment can fill
in this funding gap and add smart money
to knowledge-based startups in Jordan.
  Establishing new incubators and
accelerators
In Jordan we have a network of 8 incu-
bators branded as “Jordan Innovation
Center,” in addition to the newly
launched Meydan Ideas Space and
Oasis 500. But these are not enough as
there are more brilliant ideas out there
looking for incubation.
  Supporting R&D in cooperation
with universities
R&D and innovation are required if
we are not aiming for more copy-cat
types of companies. It is not surprising
that some of the best high tech compa-
nies are in Silicon Valley and the San
Francisco Bay area, the site of some of
America’s best universities.
  Sharing success stories
Sharing success stories will help inspire
young people and change the culture in
the region.
  Lobbying for new government
polices
The voices of successful Arab entre-
preneurs are being heard by decision-
makers more than before. It is
time for entrepreneurs to lobby
for better infrastructure, policies
and business regulations.
  Co-investing with regional VCs
Venture capital (VC) is not mature
enough in the Arab world. Bringing the
VC experience from Silicon Valley will
educate VCs in the region, and prepare
regional startups for smooth exits in the
US and Europe.
  Engage in Silicon Valley tours
For an entrepreneur, a Silicon Valley
tour could add a lot of value and ma-
turity for his/her startup. To that end,
regional VCs have been organizing
Silicon Valley tours to entrepreneurs
in which they invest, aiming to prepare
them for world-class exits and success-
ful future rounds of investment.
The Arab diaspora is a strategic as-
set for our emerging economies. Many
have contributed to this region through
remittances, however, there is a miss-
ing role for them in attracting foreign
direct investment (FDI) and – most
importantly – transfer of knowledge
and entrepreneurial networks. I hope
governments, NGOs and entrepreneurs
themselves will utilize the diaspora’s
passion towards supporting economies
in their countries of origin in creating
a future of success stories similar to
those happening in the West.