Al Ghurair speaks at the YAL annual forum

Al Ghurair, the visionary businessman and CEO of the UAE-based Mashreqbank Group, said: "The Arab world is sitting on a demographic time bomb. The region's business leaders, with the active encouragement of their governments, need to be more entrepreneurial and diversify into different sectors to create and additional 100 million job opportunities by 2020. Using our current windfall earnings to buy overseas assets will not help. We need to believe in and invest in the Arab world in order to create job opportunities here."

Al Ghurair said that leaders need to lead from the front and be role models by practicing what they preach. He said they also need to communicate their vision, values and goals clearly and to create an environment that recognises, empowers and rewards people.

Just as businessmen need to create the right working environment for their staff, so too governments need to invest in creating an environment that is conducive to business. Al Ghurair cited the examples of Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum and his father, Sheikh Rashid, who used their skills as leaders to make Dubai one of the fastest growing economies in the world. Other countries in the region need to encourage foreign direct investments by similar methods such as establishing free zones, giving tax incentives and providing a healthy, crime free environment to work in.

YAL is a network of Arab men and women who have seen the power of action in their own lives, reached unprecedented levels of success for their age, are positive, can see beyond today's challenges, and envision a prosperous future for the Arab world. These leaders are currently in prominent positions of responsibility and are destined for extraordinary achievement, and they believe that their efforts today can have an impact on their communities, countries and the region as a whole.

ABAN was conceived by YAL and Dubai Holding (DH) in September 2005 with DH subsidiary Dubai International Capital (DIC) as its lead corporate Angel. Headquartered in Dubai, ABAN will complement the economic development objectives of the Arab world by participating in the success of high potential entrepreneurial ventures. ABAN's private investors will directly contribute to the growth of entrepreneurship and improved economic vitality by spearheading seed and early stage investments for emerging businesses across the MENA region