Young Arab Leaders (YAL), the region's foremost development platform for business, public sector and civil society leaders, on Sunday announced the launch of the “Entrepreneurship Initiative” for 2008-2009. The Initiative is sponsored by The Dow Chemical Company through its charitable arm, The Dow Chemical Company Foundation, as part of its support for the “Arab and American Dialogue Program” for 2008 and 2009. The “Entrepreneurship Initiative” aims to nurture innovation among young, small and medium entrepreneurs in the region and provide them opportunities for training mentoring and networking. Through the program, they will learn from the experiences of other start-up and early-stage companies in the region and receive mentorship from YAL members. It will serve as a primary platform whereby small and medium entrepreneurs will be identified, their business plans assessed for capacity building training through a process of mentoring and adopting by more established companies in the region. Applications for the program will be invited through an online portal, chapter announcements and member & task force nominations. These will be assessed via a selection committee chaired by YAL that will include representatives from ABAN, DIFC COE and Larta, in addition to other members nominated to the committee by the yal regional office. Selected applicants will then go through the capacity building or the training component of the program. YAL and its partners the DIFC CoE and Larta will establish work plans for each of these candidates and they will be assigned a “Mentor” who will ensure that they absorb the exhaustive training. One complete cycle of the program would ideally take about 12 months. Entrepreneurs will be selected from diverse sectors in three pilot countries - UAE, Egypt and Jordan. Dr. Omar Bin Sulaiman, chairman of the board of YAL, said: “YAL's mission is to create opportunities for Arab youth in education, leadership development and entrepreneurship. We seek to open new channels for young leaders to interact positively with professionals and practitioners in various social and economic sectors both regionally and internationally. Through programs like the “Entrepreneurship Initiative”, YAL aims to make an impact on the progress of our region.” Speaking at the launch of the initiative, Assem O. Kabesh, CEO of YAL, said: “Through all its initiatives and programmes, YAL seeks to develop young talent in the Arab region by giving them opportunities to broaden their horizons and assume new challenges. The objective of all our programmes is to provide young people with opportunities that will enable them to become dynamic action-oriented leaders.” “For more than 110 years, Dow has been committed to the communities in which we operate, supporting their aspirations and contributing to their economic development,” said Louis Vega, Public Affairs Director, India, Middle East & Africa (IMEA), The Dow Chemical Company. “We are delighted to foster an environment that not only supports the development of the Arab world, but encourages a focus on sustainable success. It is imperative for organizations around the world to become more engaged in activities that support economic, social and environmental progress. “ The goals, objectives and working model of the Initiative were announced at the Global Action Forum in New York in March 2008. These were created by a Task Force comprising of key YAL members who include leaders from diverse sectors in the region. YAL has developed this initiative in partnership with the Arab Business Angels Network (ABAN), DIFC's Center of Excellence (CoE) and Larta Institute. ABAN manages a business angel network and two seed capital funds. __
