Start-ups and small businesses play a key role in helping the Arab world shift towards becoming a digitally-based economy, yet they face significant barriers to their growth, attendees at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the UAE heard.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution – the next major industrial era, characterised by rapid evolution of disruptive technologies – is one of the region’s “greatest challenges”, Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, chairwoman of the Sharjah Investment and Development Authority (Shurooq), told a WEF event in Sharjah on Friday.
It will require companies, governments and entrepreneurs to help digitise existing economies and prevent the region falling behind the rest of the world.
“I think we all agree this is the region’s greatest challenge: how to build future economies in the Arab world. More precisely, how can we build economies that are being shaped by Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies?/” Sheikha Al Qasimi said.
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Such advancements include robotics, AI (artificial intelligence), nanotechnology, 3D printing, Internet of Things (IoT) and autonomous vehicles – "truly transformative technologies that are the key to job creation", she said, as she announced a panel session moderated by The National's editor-in-chief Mina Al-Oraibi.
Panel speakers warned that while start-ups and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) can play a big role in developing a knowledge-based economy, many Arab countries have failed to put in place the ecosystems to nurture their growth.
“It’s because I love the country that I want it to be better. There are a lot of things that need to be changed, it’s very frustrating” said Joy Ajlouny, co-founder of UAE logistics start-up Fetchr.
“The bureaucracy [in the UAE] is painful and the costs of setting up a business are astronomical.
“In the US, you only pay taxes on profits; here, you pay fees [for healthcare, licensing, visas], whether you make money or not.”
Education and lack of skilled talent is another barrier, according to panel speakers, which included well-known figures from Middle East businesses and institutions.
Political instability in the region can cause a “brain drain”, where talented people seek opportunities elsewhere, noted Imad Elhajj a professor at the American University of Beirut.
“I don’t think there is a lack of education here, but if there’s no stability [in Lebanon, especially], start-ups will start up elsewhere, taking away technologies that could help grow our economies,” he said.
Another challenge is that consumption of technology is higher in the Arab world than production of technology – despite high internet penetration rates.
"The community of people entering production is quite small," warned Sarah Al Amiri, UAE Minister of State for Advanced Sciences. She said a government priority was to create a "talent pool of people" whose knowledge is transferable across industries. The UAE last month launched an initiative to train 1 million Arabs in computer coding.
Last week, a report by Orient Planet Research and SME Advisor Middle East claimed the UAE is primed for a new wave of SMEs, with 91 per cent of millennials surveyed saying they had either started their own business or were looking to start one in the near future.
At the other end of the spectrum, however, large corporates have a role to play in making the digital economy a reality. “It’s how we utilise the talent we have,” said Khaled Biyari, chief executive of Saudi Telecom Company (STC).
“You need an ecosystem,” he added. “You need a friendly regulatory environment that can not only create boundaries but open up investment. Then, you need a digital infrastructure that enables everyone to participate and compete, for example, by giving SMEs access to cloud data and IoT platforms so they can do stuff in a completely new and different way.”
Alain Bejjani, chief executive of UAE conglomerate Majid Al Futtaim Holding, added: “We have to be better, in order to compete globally. Competition in bricks and mortar is now global, let alone in digital. Whoever can’t get there has no future.”
WE NO LONGER PREFER MOUNTAINS
Director: Inas Halabi
Starring: Nijmeh Hamdan, Kamal Kayouf, Sheikh Najib Alou
Rating: 4/5
Fire and Fury
By Michael Wolff,
Henry Holt
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Almouneer
Started: 2017
Founders: Dr Noha Khater and Rania Kadry
Based: Egypt
Number of staff: 120
Investment: Bootstrapped, with support from Insead and Egyptian government, seed round of
$3.6 million led by Global Ventures
The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes
Director: Francis Lawrence
Stars: Rachel Zegler, Peter Dinklage, Viola Davis, Tom Blyth
Rating: 3/5
Company Profile
Name: Direct Debit System
Started: Sept 2017
Based: UAE with a subsidiary in the UK
Industry: FinTech
Funding: Undisclosed
Investors: Elaine Jones
Number of employees: 8
THE HOLDOVERS
Director: Alexander Payne
Starring: Paul Giamatti, Da'Vine Joy Randolph, Dominic Sessa
Rating: 4.5/5
Brolliology: A History of the Umbrella in Life and Literature
By Marion Rankine
Melville House
Movie: Saheb, Biwi aur Gangster 3
Producer: JAR Films
Director: Tigmanshu Dhulia
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Jimmy Sheirgill, Mahie Gill, Chitrangda Singh, Kabir Bedi
Rating: 3 star
The drill
Recharge as needed, says Mat Dryden: “We try to make it a rule that every two to three months, even if it’s for four days, we get away, get some time together, recharge, refresh.” The couple take an hour a day to check into their businesses and that’s it.
Stick to the schedule, says Mike Addo: “We have an entire wall known as ‘The Lab,’ covered with colour-coded Post-it notes dedicated to our joint weekly planner, content board, marketing strategy, trends, ideas and upcoming meetings.”
Be a team, suggests Addo: “When training together, you have to trust in each other’s abilities. Otherwise working out together very quickly becomes one person training the other.”
Pull your weight, says Thuymi Do: “To do what we do, there definitely can be no lazy member of the team.”
ABU DHABI'S KEY TOURISM GOALS: BY THE NUMBERS
By 2030, Abu Dhabi aims to achieve:
• 39.3 million visitors, nearly 64% up from 2023
• Dh90 billion contribution to GDP, about 84% more than Dh49 billion in 2023
• 178,000 new jobs, bringing the total to about 366,000
• 52,000 hotel rooms, up 53% from 34,000 in 2023
• 7.2 million international visitors, almost 90% higher compared to 2023's 3.8 million
• 3.9 international overnight hotel stays, 22% more from 3.2 nights in 2023
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
Match info
Athletic Bilbao 0
Real Madrid 1 (Ramos 73' pen)
The 12 breakaway clubs
England
Arsenal, Chelsea, Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur
Italy
AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus
Spain
Atletico Madrid, Barcelona, Real Madrid
GOLF’S RAHMBO
- 5 wins in 22 months as pro
- Three wins in past 10 starts
- 45 pro starts worldwide: 5 wins, 17 top 5s
- Ranked 551th in world on debut, now No 4 (was No 2 earlier this year)
- 5th player in last 30 years to win 3 European Tour and 2 PGA Tour titles before age 24 (Woods, Garcia, McIlroy, Spieth)
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kinetic 7
Started: 2018
Founder: Rick Parish
Based: Abu Dhabi, UAE
Industry: Clean cooking
Funding: $10 million
Investors: Self-funded
Company Profile
Company name: Hoopla
Date started: March 2023
Founder: Jacqueline Perrottet
Based: Dubai
Number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Investment required: $500,000
Messi at the Copa America
2007 – lost 3-0 to Brazil in the final
2011 – lost to Uruguay on penalties in the quarter-finals
2015 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
2016 – lost to Chile on penalties in the final
The specs: 2018 Audi Q5/SQ5
Price, base: Dh183,900 / Dh249,000
Engine: 2.0L, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder / 3.0L, turbocharged V6
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic / Eight-speed automatic
Power: 252hp @ 5,000rpm / 354hp @ 5,400rpm
Torque: 370Nm @ 1,600rpm / 500Nm @ 1,370rpm
Fuel economy: combined 7.2L / 100km / 8.3L / 100km