BEAT represents Middle East at Global Youth Micro-Enterprise Conference

The two-day event, launched by Making Cents International, marks the first-ever gathering of the world's leading experts and practitioners in youth microenterprise, entrepreneurship, and livelihood development.

Murrar said, 'Youth are the driving force behind economic growth, prosperity, and stability especially in the conflict-affected areas, and therefore I feel very fortunate to represent Jordan at this important global conference and being part of a global think tank that addresses global challenges, as well as finding and nurturing investment opportunities that benefit the youth and global economies.'

He went on to say, 'I believe that there are plenty of great ideas being generated in Jordan that are unique to the world, which we as entrepreneurs must work hard to bring to life and make a reality by facilitating the right support and funding.'

Murrar also spoke about the opportunities spanning the Middle East in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector, specifically outlining Jordan as a hub for technology outsourcing due to the vast amount of knowledge and skills sets that Jordanians possess.

Moreover, Murrar presented a video that summarized some of the opinions and perspectives from leading entrepreneurs in Jordan, in addition to their ideas and solutions to overcome some of the common problems facing entrepreneurs in the Middle East region. The presentation included interviews with Mr. Fadi Ghandour (CEO of Aramex), Mr. Laith Al Qasim (Chairman of Young Entrepreneurs Association and CEO of Arabian Business Consulting for Development), Mrs. Lina Hundaileh (General Manager of Philadelphia Chocolate Manufacturing Co.), and Mr. Fadi Otaqui, a Business Advocate and founder of Sawtona, the first public advocacy policy project in Jordan.

The YME Conference has taken place at a time when the youth population of the world, those aged between 12 to 24, has reached a historical high of 1.5 billion, a large percentage of whom face the same problems such as a lack of access to quality education and employment. These constraints deny young citizens the ability to learn new skills, which in turn restricts the development of an entrepreneurial culture that has the potential to improve international security, economic stability and the overall health of communities.

The three main conference topics were broken down into a variety of subjects including youth unemployment in conflict-zones, the specific needs of girls in poverty-stricken areas, the changing face of microfinance, the need to incorporate entrepreneurial learning into school systems, private sector engagement, workforce development, and youth entrepreneurship.