The Abu Dhabi Launch Event of the 5th MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Business Plan Competition will bring together regional business leaders, policy-makers, prominent media figures, previous Competition participants, students, established as well as budding entrepreneurs to officially launch the 5th MIT Enterprise Forum Arab Business Plan Competition, in partnership with ALJ Community Initiatives and a joint initiative with GIST.

The event is free of charge and open to the public. Everyone is invited to attend (entrepreneurs, students, business professionals, faculty members, etc...)

See the Facebook page for more information and RSVP to info@mitarabcompetition.com today to grab a spot!

When: September 29 7:00 - 10:30pm

Location: Radisson Blu Hotel, Abu Dhabi Yas Island

The agenda of the event is set to include:

7:00 – 7:30 PM
Welcome Reception and Seating

7:30 – 7:45 PM
Welcome Address
Hala Fadel, Chair, MIT Enterprise Forum of the Pan Arab Region
Natalia Pipia, Senior Program Manager, Global Innovation through Science & Technology (GIST)
Steve Griffiths, Executive Director, Office of Masdar Institute Initiatives

7:45 – 7:55 PM
Keynote Speech
(TBC)

7:55 – 8:25 PM
Discussion Panel 1: Current situation of entrepreneurship in the Arab world: Are we good?
Moderator: Frederic Sicre, Partner, Abraaj Capital
Panelists: Ihsan Jawad, Vice-Chairman, Zawya, UAE
Elie Khoury, Founder & CEO, Dermandar, Lebanon
Sami Khoreibi, Founder & CEO, Environmena, UAE
Marwan Chaar, Co-Founder, FuGu Energy, The Hub, UAE
Habib Haddad, CEO, Wamda

8:25 – 8:30 PM
Movie

8:30 – 8:50 PM
Discussion Panel 2: Winning the MITEF Arab Business Plan Competition: What’s next?
Moderator: Armen Vartanian, Director, Crescent Investments
Panelists: Sherif Mostafa, Winner 2011, PT Screen, Egypt
Rana Shmaitelly, Winner 2010, The Little Engineer, Lebanon
Hossam Mahgoub, 1st runner up 2011, Al-Khawarizmy Software, Egypt
Asem Mohamed, 2nd runner up 2011, i-Navigator, Egypt
Mashhour Bani Amer, 2nd runner up 2011, Diabetes Healthcare, Jordan

8:50 – 9:00 PM
Energy Break moderated by Ali M. Jaber
Fadi Ghandour, Founder, Aramex

9:00 – 9:20 PM
Discussion Panel 3: Assessing the capabilities of Arab entrepreneurs: What’s lacking?
Moderator: Inas Khayal, Assistant Professor, Masdar Institute
Panelists: Neveen El-Tahri, Managing Director, Delta Financial Investments, Egypt
Adnan Sultan, President, Al-Qoudra Consultancy, Kuwait
Hussein Shobokshi, President, Shobokshi Development and Trading, Saudi Arabia

9:20 – 9:30 PM
Closing Remarks
Zaher Munajjed, Advisor to the President, Abdul Latif Jameel Community Initiatives

9:30 – 11:00 PM
Networking Reception