Entrepreneurs in Dubai to go annual

'We have had tremendous positive feedback from all involved - speakers, delegates, exhibitors, sponsors and the media,' said Jessica Sutherland, General Manager, IIR Middle East, which organized the event in conjunction with the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment for Young Leaders.

Over 1,000 delegates from 28 countries attended the event - organized to promote and develop a spirit of entrepreneurship across the region - and heard powerful advice from a spectacular speaker line up of some of the world's most successful entrepreneurs including The Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick, real estate tycoon Donald J. Trump and easyJet founder Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

'What the response has clearly demonstrated is that an entrepreneurial culture is alive and well in the Middle East and merely needs fostering,' said Sutherland. 'We will closely examine the needs of young entrepreneurs in this region and those of the Corporate Arabia which want to develop their own 'can do' culture and seek to ensure the 2006 event has speakers which address their issues.

'What we can promise is a speaker line-up equally as compelling as the one which has absorbed delegates this week.'

Abdul Baset Al Janahi, CEO of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Establishment For Young Leaders, said the event had given rise to a fresh wave of entrepreneurial thinking.

'Most of the people we met at the exhibition were actively pursuing new business opportunities and investigating means of gaining help and support. This is highly encouraging as entrepreneurship is the source that creates dynamic business environments and is a growth driver with the power to sustain high level economic development and prosperity,' he said.

The final day of Entrepreneurs in Dubai - the International Entrepreneurship Forum and Exhibition - heard from Haji-Ioannou who spoke of his conviction of brand extension.

'It creates and shares wealth,' said the man who said Virgin's boss Richard Branson was his role model.

Haji-Ioannou, who has expanded his easyGroup brand into the cruise line business and will shortly launch the first easyHotel in London, was circumspect on whether the brand would be seen in the Middle East.

'The easiest route here would be in the hotel industry. We have had approaches and are talking to a number of people but we have to wait and see.'