Young Entrepreneurs Palestine (YEP) organizes
The First National Entrepreneurship Conference
In Ramallah 9 August 2009 Best Eastern
Ramallah- Young Entrepreneurs Palestine (YEP) organized the First National Entrepreneurship Conference under the patronage and participation of the Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad.
The conference was attended by Ministers like the Labor minister Dr. Ahmed Majdalani, and Justice Minister Dr. Ali Khashan, and Ex-Ministers like Mr. Mazen Sinnokrot, Mr. Kamal Hassouneh, and high level representatives from civil society organizations, private sector, and educational institutes, in addition to national and international experts on socio-economic development.
Dr. Salam Fayyad emphasized the importance of the Palestinian's Authority role in empowering and expanding the entrepreneurship, as a tool to fight poverty and unemployment in Palestine. His Excellency demanded the financial sectors and funding organizations to continue developing their financial programs for university graduates so that they can transform their ideas and initiatives into successful and profitable projects. The Prime Minister pointed out the importance of this conference which he described as an important economical event, and one of the first initiatives in this field and thanked YEP for launching it with key representatives from the private and public sector.
Dr. Fayyad talked about the civil society participation alongside the Palestinian Authority's role in different aspects whether on the economic level, political, and social. Mr. Fayyad added: "with no doubts an association like the Young Entrepreneurs of Palestine participated in increasing the professionalism and awareness level among Palestinian youth entrepreneurs, in terms of starting up their own industrial and economical projects, as well as agricultural and technological ones.
Mr. Hazem Kawasmi, Chairman of the Young Entrepreneurs Association called upon re-looking at the educational and training systems and adding a new dimension to them to stimulate the interest of students and trainees to a new option of having their own businesses as an equal alternative or substitute to paid jobs.
Mr. Kawasmi added: "it became very important to highlight the subject of entrepreneurship and project's development among young entrepreneurs, due to its direct impact on economic growth, development, and promoting a diversity of economic competition".
In addition to that, Mr. Kawasmi pointed out in his speech that the percentage of the fresh graduates that start their own business didn’t exceed 14.2%, since the youth prefer looking for paid jobs instead. Furthermore the percentage of the female participation is only 6%, while a majority of those entrepreneurs (males and females) don't have high school certifications (Tawjihi). He clarified that YEP has many programs with public and private high education institutes that encourage empowering university students to start up their own businesses after graduation. He considered that finding the right financial resources are the main obstacles those entrepreneurs face.
The conference contained three main sessions. The first session talked about the concept of entrepreneurship in Palestine, and was leaded by ex-minister Mr. Kamal Hassouneh. With the participation of three spokespersons: Dr. Basem Makhool (Economical consultant and researcher), Dr. Salad Al Zaroon (undersecretary of the ministry of Labor), and Mr. Anwar Jayousi (General Manager of Faten Funding and Development Organization)
The first session discussed the challenges that face the entrepreneurship in Palestine, starting with the higher educational system, the lack of the financial resources, the complexity of the procedures to start up a new business, and the limited governmental role in empowering small businesses.
The second session, which was leaded by the economic expert Dr. Talib Awad, presented the experiences of distinguished entrepreneurs in Palestine, and the international best practices. The speakers of this session were: The chairperson of the Businessmen Association Mr. Mohammad Masrouji, Ms. Karen Kerrigan an expert businesswoman, Ms. Fatima Sa'adeh a Palestinian businesswoman, Mr. Simon Edwards the representative of Mowgli organization in the UK, and Mr. Talat Alawi editor-in-chief of Al-Safeer newspaper.
The third and last session: Incorporating Entrepreneurship in the Palestinian Context was leaded by H.E Eng. Mazen Sinnokrot the chairperson of Sinnokrot international Group Co. The participants in this session were: Prof. Nigel Culkin from the university of Hertfordshire, UK, Ms. Faten Sharaf the representative of the Ministry of Economics, and Ms. Tafeeda Jarbawi the director of research and planning, Welfare Association.
Dr. Jarbawi called for finding the right environment to revive the youths' initiatives and empowering those initiatives through finding new policies in four main areas: rationalization of the legal system, protection of private property rights, improving governance, and building the basic infrastructure.
The legal researcher, Bilal Barghouti, called upon the adaptation of a special entrepreneurship legislation, and adjusting financial laws in a way that open more possibilities for funding organizations. The researcher Salah Sawalmeh discussed in his paper work "the role of microfinance in empowering entrepreneurship" and the importance of conducting other researches in the field of stimulating the concept of entrepreneurship in Palestine.
Experts pointed out the importance of planning a national strategy to strengthen the position of entrepreneurship in Palestine, by empowering young entrepreneurs and build a strong entrepreneurship infrastructure, by using all possible means, starting with educational means, financial, and social.
The findings of the conference and the three research papers will be presented in a separate workshop that will be conducted after Ramadan in October. These finding will be presented to key PA officials, private sector organizations and international organizations working in Palestine.