Middle East Entrepreneurs Push for Change

Hamoud al-Motawakkel's advertising agency in Yemen was not doing as well as he had expected. Being a civil engineer by training, he did not have much background in managing a business. Then, in 2004, he heard about the Middle East Entrepreneur Training in the United States (MEET U.S.) program and applied.

MEET U.S., run by the University of California's Beyster Institute, brings entrepreneurs from the region to its San Diego campus for intense three-week business management classes.  "MEET U.S. was like a gift," al-Motawakkel said in a survey after his classes concluded. "It opened my eyes to several opportunities."

Al-Motawakkel is among more than 2,000 entrepreneurs who have graduated from the program, which is part of the Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI).

MEPI was established in 2002 by the U.S. government to promote greater freedom, foster private-sector development and strengthen civil society in 16 Middle Eastern and North African countries.

The initiative's entrepreneurship programs seeks to create jobs in the region, which faces a projected increase in population of up to 150 million people in the next decade. Those programs also include businesswomen summits, a network for businesswomen and civil-society entrepreneurship programs.

Through all these programs MEPI promotes a major change in the attitude of local workers -- from relying for jobs on the public sector and state-owned companies to creating jobs for themselves and others through small enterprises, according to Sonia Franceski, a MEPI manager at the U.S. State Department.

The regulatory hurdles to business formation in the region are reinforced by a financial system that tends to ignore small and medium-size enterprises, according to a 2007 study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics.  MEPI not only tries to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and upgrade regional entrepreneurial skills but also works with government officials, judicial authorities, regulators, legislators and bankers in the region on removing barriers to business, Franceski said in an interview.  She said MEPI helps entrepreneurs identify sectors with the greatest business potential and provides these businessmen and businesswomen with technical skills necessary to seize opportunities.

For example, in Morocco, U.S. government agencies have assisted textile manufacturers in handling environmental and intellectual property rights issues that are essential if their products are to reach U.S. markets.

To reduce costs and get closer to their constituencies, MEPI entrepreneurship training programs are moving to the region, Franceski said. The programs have proved popular, particularly in Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, and interest in them is growing, she added.
Program results are encouraging. As of early 2006, more than 5,000 jobs were created by MEET U.S. participants. More than half started new businesses, almost as many reported business expansion and 80 participants formed joint ventures. New businesses range from fairs for businesswomen to an online digital book library to the manufacture of personal computers.

Al-Motawakkel said he started to focus on quality management, employee training and development, and incentive programs when he came back from San Diego. He also improved the company's financial system.

"This really worked," he said. "My company became known as a modern example for other firms to follow."  Yemen's Investment Magazine named his firm the country's best advertising agency and one of the 10 best companies overall in 2006.  Franceski said the MEPI's vision for the role entrepreneurs can play in the region is broad.  "We want to use entrepreneurship programs as a platform to push a democratic reform agenda," she said.

MEPI managers are looking for entrepreneurs who not only have ideas on how to make profits but also on how to contribute to a broader community. MEET U.S. administrators boast about alumni who have helped create or grow business associations, built partnerships between business and social entrepreneurs, and formed 15 new nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Among several entrepreneurs who have run for public office, one was elected to parliament.

In 2006, MEET U.S. expanded its reach by introducing a management training program for social entrepreneurs. Those who graduated from this program were engaged in launching projects as varied as promotion of public policy reform, women's literacy, open-source information technology and a help center for underprivileged women.
In August, MEPI will bring together for the first time 75 business people and 75 activists from NGOs in the region for a conference in Sana, Yemen. The expectation is that they can identify areas of mutual interest and craft common action plans.
"We hope they use the power of networking and complementary skills they have to push the issues to the fore in their countries," Franceski said.

She said MEPI is betting that, by working together, conference participants can contribute to positive changes more than by acting separately.