VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAM #2801/01 3641059
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 301059Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY AMMAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6603
INFO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD 6352
RUEHLB/AMEMBASSY BEIRUT 3151
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO 4231
RUEHDM/AMEMBASSY DAMASCUS 4304
RUEHRH/AMEMBASSY RIYADH 2266
RUEHTV/AMEMBASSY TEL AVIV 1996
RUEHJI/AMCONSUL JEDDAH 0948
RUEHJM/AMCONSUL JERUSALEM 5752
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS AMMAN 002801 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR EEB/CBA (KOLTAI) AND NEA/ELA (GREGONIS AND ALLEN) 
STATE PASS USAID 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EINT EINV TINT JO
SUBJECT:  Global Entrepreneurship Week Highlights Jordan's Emerging 
Entrepreneurial Culture 
 
REFS: A) STATE 112998 
B) Amman 2487 
C) AMMAN 2306 
D) STATE 112468 
 
¶1. (U) Summary:  Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) in Jordan was 
marked by a series of events that raised excitement and awareness 
about the emerging entrepreneurial culture in Jordan.  With support 
from USAID, the week featured a range of events from a gala opening 
ceremony to low-key networking and educational events.  The common 
themes of the week were the importance of developing a culture of 
entrepreneurship in Jordan and a desire to build on the momentum 
generated by the recent success of Jordanian startups like Arabic 
internet portal Maktoob (ref C).  Though it received very limited 
coverage in the mainstream Jordanian press, GEW events were covered 
extensively and positively on a number of Jordanian blogs.  End 
Summary. 
 
From Galas to Groundwork 
------------------------ 
 
¶2. (U) Global Entrepreneurship (GEW) kicked off on November 15 with 
a gala opening featuring 13 speakers from Jordan and the U.S.  The 
speakers included high profile American entrepreneurs such as Reid 
Hoffman, founder and CEO of LinkedIn, and Mitchell Baker, Chairwoman 
of the Mozilla Foundation.  The event also featured successful Arab 
entrepreneurs Sami Shalabi whose company Zingku was acquired by 
Google in 2006 and Habib Hadad the founder of Yamli, an Arabic 
search engine.  The speakers delivered speeches that were fast paced 
and high energy, and the atmosphere was more concert-like than a 
typical business dinner.  The colorful stage, live band, and a 
dynamic emcee added to the animated environment. 
 
¶3. (U) GEW events continued on November 16 with an open session at 
Princess Sumaya University for Technology featuring five of the 
highest profile speakers from the night before.  Joi Ito, Mitchell 
Baker, Sami Shalabi, Reid Hoffman, and Habib Hadad spoke for 10-15 
minutes each to an auditorium full of students and entrepreneurs 
about a range of topics including financing, finding collaborators 
and co-founders, and the challenges of starting a business in 
Jordan, far from the support networks that exist in places such as 
Silicon Valley.  The rest of GEW featured sessions and workshops in 
Amman; Irbid, Jordan's third largest city  near the Syrian border; 
and Zarqa, an industrial city that has struggled with high 
unemployment.  The sessions focused on developing an entrepreneurial 
culture in Jordan's secondary schools and universities. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Several GEW sessions referred to the obstacles that face 
entrepreneurs in Jordan.  From infrastructure issues like slow 
internet connections and a lack of 3G mobile phone service, to a 
cultural bias against entrepreneurship, to the almost total absence 
of angel investors or other sources for startup capital, it is clear 
that entrepreneurship in Jordan is fraught with challenges. In fact, 
Habib Hadad explained that even though most of his target market is 
in the Middle East, he started Yamli, his Arabic search engine and 
translation tool, in Boston because the infrastructure and support 
for entrepreneurs is so much better in the U.S.  Additionally, 
Jordanian entrepreneurs have scant R&D resources which have yielded 
few significant commercial successes, in part because of the many 
structural and resource impediments inherent in Jordan's science and 
technology sector (REF B). 
 
¶5. (SBU) GEW did not have royal patronage and received almost no 
coverage in traditional Jordanian media, making the high turnout for 
the opening and the panel discussion even more impressive.  There 
was, however, extensive coverage on local blogs, which described 
various events as "high energy" and "a great networking opportunity" 
while emphasizing that the organizers were able to put together "an 
amazing lineup of speakers with zero boring government officials." 
One conference attendee contrasted the high-energy and dynamic 
atmosphere of GEW with the sedate feel of the International 
Investment Conference organized by the Jordan Investment Board and 
held the previous week on November 11 and 12.  The businessman, who 
attended both events, told Econoff that "if Jordan really wants 
investors they should show them this (referring to the room full of 
entrepreneurs) not another pitch for a date farm." 
 
USAID Support Crucial to GEW's Success 
-------------------------------------- 
 
 
¶6. (U) A number of events during GEW were supported by grants from 
USAID.  USAID provided $11,280 for the opening ceremony and USAID 
was listed as a sponsor of other events during the week.  In 
addition, during GEW, a USAID-funded project celebrated the return 
of 19 Jordanian businesswomen and entrepreneurs from the Thunderbird 
School of Global Management where they completed the SEEDs program, 
an intensive program on entrepreneurial skills.  There are also 
several USAID funded projects in Jordan that directly or indirectly 
support entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship. 
 
Keeping up Momentum and Building on Success 
------------------------------------------- 
¶7. (SBU) There is general agreement among the organizers of GEW that 
the week was a major success.  Mohammed Khawaja, the executive 
director of the Queen Rania Center for Entrepreneurship (QRCE), told 
Econoff on December 20 that the success of GEW was not just the 
prestige of the speakers or the number of attendees at the events 
(though he was proud of both), but the spirit of cooperation that 
was forged between different groups in Jordan working on 
entrepreneurship.  As a result of their cooperation on GEW, the 
QRCE, the Young Entrepreneur Association (YEA), and the USAID-funded 
Business Development Center (BDC) have agreed to form the Start 
Alliance to promote entrepreneurship in Jordan. 
 
¶8. (SBU) In addition to its participation in the new Start Alliance, 
QRCE has other projects underway to promote entrepreneurship.  To 
complement their ongoing annual business plan competition, QRCE is 
starting the program Micro to Small to help new "micro" startups 
(usually with just one employee) grow to become "small" businesses 
with three to eight employees.  They are also working to establish a 
national network of angel investors and have developed a new 
program, Global Business Opportunities, to bring together 
entrepreneurs from different countries to share ideas, contacts, and 
best practices. 
 
¶9. (U) In addition to the groups mentioned above there are several 
other organizations focusing on entrepreneurship in Jordan. 
Endeavor and Empertec are both international organizations with a 
presence in Jordan.  Jordan is also home to iPARK, one of the 
region's first incubators for startups, which is currently 
incubating 10 businesses, mostly in the high-tech sector. 
 
¶10. (U) Comment:  GEW in Jordan was successful in encouraging 
existing entrepreneurs and building enthusiasm and support for 
entrepreneurship in those who attended events.  However, the lack of 
press coverage and the relatively small scale of the GEW events 
limited the impact on the broader population.  There is no shortage 
of entrepreneurship support organizations in Jordan but there is a 
limit to what such organizations can accomplish without more readily 
available start-up funding and broader cultural support and 
encouragement for entrepreneurship.  The organizers of GEW 
understand these challenges and are taking concrete steps to address 
them, including reaching out to elementary and middle school 
students, and working with private investors and the GOJ to 
establish angel funding networks.  Despite these positive 
developments, there are still significant cultural and institutional 
challenges to be addressed before an "entrepreneurial culture" is a 
reality.  End comment. 
 
Visit Amman's Classified Website at 
http://diplopedia.state.sgov.gov/index.php?ti tle 
=Embassy_Amman 
 
 
BEECROFT