Harvard Alumni Conference highlights Arab success stories

HE Sheikha Lubna Al Qassimi, UAE Minister of Economy and Planning was a keynote speaker at the conference, where she highlighted the successes and challenges facing the Arab world.

In his welcome address, Nabil Alyousuf, Executive President, DSG stressed on the need to involve educated decision-makers in the process of government reform.

"Dubai School of Government is proud to be pioneering such initiatives in the region, and contributing not only to the vision of Dubai in the future, but to the entire Arab world," Alyousuf said.

Increasing the number of Arab students at Harvard was one of the objectives of the conference that included a three-tier panel on education, entrepreneurship and economy issues.

Rania Succar, President, HAAA said: "The conference presented a unique opportunity for alumnae from leading universities to network with graduates from across the region.

"The Arab world has historically been under-represented in premier universities worldwide, and the Harvard Arab Alumni Association is working to increase the Arab presence within Harvard through such initiatives."

In addressing the macroeconomic challenges within the region, HE Sheikha Lubna called for a Reform Act to secure a better standard of living for future generations. She indicated that by 2020, nearly 100 million new jobs would have to be created to cater to the population growth.

Outlining some of the major challenges facing the Arab world, she mentioned low education levels, scarcity of research and development initiatives, and paucity of foreign direct investment in the region.

"For the Arab World to realise the full potential of its success stories, it needs to implement a tax structure that is non-discriminatory, and which does not change frequently if it is to gain investors' confidence.

"The region also needs to reduce the perceived risks through the provision of transparent legislation that espouses open markets and free movement of capital and labour. In addition, tariffs need to be reduced, especially on imported inputs of production. We also need to promote intra-regional investments."

Professor Joseph Nye, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and former Dean of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, was also a keynote speaker where he addressed the effects of globalisation at the second Harvard Arab Alumni meet.

Prominent Arab leaders from 15 regional countries across business, government and academia sectors interacted with Harvard's senior faculty members and administrators to discuss "Success Stories in the Arab World".

The education panel comprising Dr. John Waterbury, President, American University of Beirut; Dr Daniel Alonso, Dean, Weill Cornell Medical School in Qatar, and Dr. Wadih Atiyah, Dean of Undergraduates, American University of Sharjah discussed "Successes and Ongoing Challenges for Tertiary Education in the Arab World".

Members of the finance and economy panel included Sameer Al Ansari, CEO of Dubai International Capital; Hassan Heikal, Co-Chairman and CEO of EFG Hermes; Michael Matossian, Group Head of Global Regulatory Compliance at Arab Bank;Arif Naqvi, Executive Vice Chairman and CEO of Abraaj Capital; Ahmed Tantash, Chairman and CEO of Jordinvest and Mubeef Tarmoom CEO of Istithmar.

The region's leading policy-makers used successful reform experiences to offer perspectives on priorities for unleashing the region's growth potentials.

The conference concluded with a panel on entrepreneurship that emphasised the challenges and growth of entrepreneurial skills in the Arab world. Fadi Ghandour, Founder, President and CEO of Aramex International; Ennis Rimawi, Founder and CEO of Estarta Solutions, and Adel Ali, CEO of Air Arabia addressed the forum in this segment.

Istithmar, EFG Hermes and Jordinvest were the Platinum sponsors of the conference; Knowledge Village and Dubai International Capital and SAS participated as the Gold sponsors, while Boss, Mckinsey and Company and Axiom Telecom were the Silver sponsors.