The Changing Face of the Middle East Wednesday, May 2, :00 AM - 9:15 AM

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The Changing Face of the Middle East Wednesday, May 2, 2012 8:00 AM - 9:15 AM Moderator: Ghanem Nuseibeh, Founder, Cornerstone Global Associates; Senior Visiting Fellow, King's College, London

1 The Changing Face of the Middle East Wednesday, May 2, :00 AM - 9:15 AM Moderator: Ghanem Nuseibeh, Founder, Cornerstone Global Associates; Senior Visiting Fellow, King's College, London Speakers: Zika Abzuk, Senior Manager, Cisco Abdulla Mohammed Al Awar, CEO, Dubai International Financial Centre Authority Abdul Malek Al Jaber, Founder and Chairman, MENA Apps Chemi Peres, Managing General Partner and Co-Founder, Pitango Venture Capital Mohamed Seif-Elnasr, Chief Investment Officer and Managing Partner, Safanad SA 1

2 Rapid economic growth in the Middle East 2011 are preliminary estimates; are projections 2011 economic growth (%) economic growth (%) Sources: IMF, International Labor Office, Global Employment Trend

3 MENA countries vary greatly in terms of the level of development GDP per capita (US$) 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 North Africa Algeria Tunisia Morocco Egypt GDP per capita (US$) 5,000 4,000 3,000 2,000 1,000 Core Middle East Jordan Syria Yemen GDP per capita (US$) 70,000 Gulf states UAE 60,000 50,000 Kuwait 40,000 30,000 Oman 20,000 10,000 Saudi Arabia Note: GDP per capita at current prices in U.S. Dollars. Source: IMF World Economic Outlook. 3

4 1-in-4 youth in the labor force are unemployed Middle East and North Africa Percent Youth Adults Note: Youth aged Source: International Labor Office, Global Employment Trend

5 Lowest youth labor force participation Percent Youth Adults Note: Youth aged Source: International Labor Office, Global Employment Trend

6 Female labor force participation is the lowest among other regions Female labor force (%) Male labor force (%) Source: International Labor Office, Global Employment Trend

7 Unemployment rate exceeds 10% in many MENA countries Source: International Monetary Fund, Datastream. 7

8 Intraregional trade is relatively low in MENA Intraregional exports as a percentage of total exports % of total exports % of total exports Developing Asia 65 European Union MENA Source: Direction of Trade Statistics, IMF. 8

9 Average years of schooling increased dramatically for MENA countries in the past 60 years Average years of schooling Advanced countries Developing countries MENA Latin America East Asia & the Pacific South Asia Europe & Central Asia Source: Robert Barro and Jong-Wha Lee (2010). 9

10 The region has a high degree of heterogeneity in human development Index Human development index (2011) Source: United Nations Development Programme. 10

11 Zika Abzuk, Senior Manager Cisco 11

12 Investing in Palestine In Investing Palestine Zika Abzuk 12

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14 The Ask: Develop a Palestinian High- Tech Industry 14

15 Palestinian economy Past and present 15

The Venture Ecosystem Academia & Research Business infrastructure & support services Role Models Education & Workforce Development Trade and

16 The Venture Ecosystem Academia & Research Business infrastructure & support services Role Models Education & Workforce Development Trade and Industry Organizations Money Connectivity Infrastructure Entrepreneurs Ideas & Inventions Talent Coaches & Mentors Access to Global Markets Culture 16

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18 From vision to reality MYTecC GTAP Connecting Schools Outsourcing; Incubation program; Seed fund VC Equity funds First year Second year Third year 18

19 First Step: The Advisory Board A first advisory board meeting, May 2008 Yoav Samet, Zika Abzuk, Ihab Jabri, Yuval Shahar, sabri Saidam 19

20 Outsourcing the first meeting R&D team & Exalt interviewing Palestinian companies for outsourcing work (Cisco, December 2008) 20

21 Outsourcing the first meeting Contract Signed Michael Ben-Nun and Tareq Maayah (CEO Exalt) 21

22 What made it work? - Entrepreneurial spirit - Good universities - Very low attrition rate - Highly motivated engineers - Top of the class graduates - Loyalty & good work ethics on both sides 22

23 Success indicators - The 3 Cisco BU s picked up cost and continue employing the teams with even more challenging projects - 2 out of the 3 BU s extended the teams started with 24 engineers 40 engineers - HP, Intel, Microsoft are outsourcing to Palestine (with our support using the cookbook we wrote) 23

24 Success indicators 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% How open are you to considering outsourcing to Palestine for an upcoming need? (1 = Not at all open, 7 = Very open) Respondents who have outsourced to Palestine (55) Respondents who were aware of Palestines's outsourcing capabilities, but have not outsourced to Palestine (109) Respndents who were completely unaware of Palestine's outsourcing capabilities (204)

25 Impact At a time when many companies color the West Bank red on their maps as an economic no-go zone, Cisco saw an opportunity... Cisco s leadership has inspired other high tech companies to recognize that the West Bank is open for business. Hillary Rodham Clinton U.S. Secretary of State 25

26 Mapping innovation What does CBD look for? Innovation Cisco Sweet Spot Me-Too Internet Corp Domestic / Regional Global 26

27 GTAP - Cisco Global Talent Acceleration Program GTAP Team 27

MYTecC uses the human network to support the development of IT and career

28 MYTecC- Mediterranean Youth Technology Club - Initiative geared toward supporting the development of future responsible business and social leaders - MYTecC uses the human network to support the development of IT and career skills and promotes cross-cultural dialogue and collaboration in a Web 2.0 environment 28

29 Connecting Schools 29

30 Jump Start Palestine PE / VC Ecosystem Buyout Late Stage VC Early Stage Sadara SME Focus - Sector Agnostic (approx % ICT) ICT Focus 30

31 vision & strategic planning for the ICT sector Support local Effort led by PITA involving the community 31

32 What s running - VC & equity funds - An incubation program - Capacity building of Palestinian Software companies - Connecting schools - Capacity Building of Universities - Women Empowerment Program 32

Science, Technology & Innovation Indicators

Science, Technology & Innovation Indicators Adnan Badran NASIC Conference cum Workshop on Herbal Drug Development for Socio-economic Uplift in Developing World The University of Jordan, September 6-8,