the first Arab Technology Business Plan Competition

Manama, Bahrain 26 February - 2 March, 2006

The winner of the first Arab Technology Business Plan Competition will be known on April 11, 2006. The competition invited young entrepreneurs from the region to submit plans for high potential start-up business projects in the fields of Information Technology, Communications, Life Sciences, Engineering, Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Energy Applications and related technology fields. The competition will short list five innovators who will be offered the chance to present their business plans at the 4th International Forum on Investing in Technology in Kuwait on April 10 & 11, 2006. The technology business plan judged as the best will receive a minimum seed investment of $50,000 from the Arab Technology Ventures Seed Capital Fund. Second and third places will be eligible for investment from Arab Technology Ventures Seed Capital Fund.

Applicants had to submit their initial online entries by February 8, 2006. Subsequent submissions had to be entered by March 8, 2006. Private and public presentations will be held on April 9, 2006 concluding with the award ceremony in Kuwait on April 11, 2006. Entrepreneurs from all Arab countries, with new ventures in the seed, start-up or early growth stages were eligible to join the contest, in teams of two to five.

The Investing in Technology Forum has been held every six months since April 2004 by the Arab Science & Technology Foundation (ASTF), a UAE-based independent, non-governmental and non-profit organisation established to promote the development of science, technology and entrepreneurship in the Arab world. The Forum has become the event of choice for those seeking or working in funding technopreneurs. It also plays a pivotal role in the ASTF assistance programme as the projects ASTF supports are presented at the fora. The Investing in Technology Forum is the largest forum of its kind in the Arab world to woo the Arab investor to technology-based projects. The April 2006 Forum is being organized in collaboration with the Islamic Development Bank (IDB); Abdul Latif Jameel Co. Ltd. (ALJ); and National Technology Enterprises Company (NTEC). ASTF is best known for its showcase event, the biennial Symposium on Scientific Research Outlook in the Arab World (SRO), which attracts scientists from across the Arab world and from all over the globe.

The ASTF announced the Arab Technology Business Plan Competition on 20 December, 2005. The competition is being held in collaboration with the Abdul Latif Jameel Company Limited and the Islamic Development Bank and is assisted by organizations in countries throughout the region. UNIDO ITPO Bahrain is the ASTF partner in Bahrain. The other partners are: in Jordan, the Princess Sumaya National Entrepreneurship Competition and Jordan Young Entrepreneurs Association; in Egypt, the Technology Development Fund Business Plan Competition and IDEAVELOPERS; in Syrian, the Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association, and from Kuwait, the National Technology Enterprises.

As the partner in Bahrain, UNIDO ITPO/ARCEIT (Arab Regional Centre for Entrepreneurship and Investment Training) Bahrain held its first Entrepreneurship Development & Enterprise Creation Programme for Innovators (EDPI) from February 26th to March 2nd, 2006. UNIDO ITPO/ARCEIT Bahrain wanted to hone the skills of the better Arab Technology Business Plan Competition candidates. It invited the candidates to submit their business plans and selected the ones they judged the best. Fifteen from nine countries were accepted in the programme (Bahrain, Egypt, Sudan, Palestine, Jordan, Syria, Kuwait, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia).

The Entrepreneurship Development & Enterprise Creation Programme for Innovators (EDPI) assists budding entrepreneurs with: the development of professional business plans and project profiles as per UNIDO methodology; the commercialization of their products and technologies through the UNIDO ITPO Network and UNIDO exchange; enterprise establishment and strengthening entrepreneurial competencies; skills in managing a small venture; identifying a business opportunity; the promotion of innovative technologies to potential investors; financial analysis and business accounting and guidelines on project implementation. The UNIDO - ITPO / ARCEIT Programme includes a vigorous follow-up mechanism to provide counseling to the entrepreneurs as they take their first steps with their startups.

In this case, the UNIDO-ARCEIT programme enabled the fifteen participants to refine their business plans for submission before the March 8 deadlineof the Arab Technology Business Plan Competition. Regardless of whether these participants are among the winners, ITPO Bahrain will "walking the talk" with these entrepreneurs, as they do with participants in all of their programmes, to maximise the chances of business plans turning into profits. After all, Ms. Huda Janahi doesn't have to be the only former ARCEIT student that wins prizes (see UNIDOScope 26 Feb. - 4 Mar. 2006).

The first Entrepreneurship Development & Enterprise Creation Programme for Innovators (EDPI) received support from ASTF, the Ministry of Industry & Commerce, the Bahrain Development Bank, and the Arab Gulf Programme for United Nations Development Organizations.

Hashim Hussein, Head, Investment and Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) Bahrain, Tel. +973 - 536881, E-mail: itpo.bahrain@unido.org coming events Send your comments to the editor: K.Timmins@unido.org