Syria is taking part in Global Entrepreneurship Week for the first time this year, since the launch of the global celebration eight years ago. The Syrian Economic Forum (SEF), the official GEW host in Syria, kicked off the week on Nov. 14, with Syrian Entrepreneurship Day at Palmiye Hotel in Gaziantep.
The event brought together potential Syrian entrepreneurs, businessmen, Syrian and Turkish academics, representatives of the Syrian Interim Government and Syrian Opposition Coalition, civil society organizations, members of the business community, as well as media representatives.
During the event, SEF launched the second phase of its Civic Education program, a series of lectures offered to Syrian entrepreneurs. This was followed by a discussion on the future of business leadership in the country.
The day started with the opening speech of Ayman Tabba, the chairman of Syrian Economic Forum, and the introduction of the Entrepreneurship Lecture Series by Rami Sharrack, Deputy Executive Director of SEF. As part of the series Ayman Abo Hashem (SIG) emphasized the importance of inspiring young people to become entrepreneurs and Hasan Jubran, vice president of Alzahraa University, discussed the integration of entrepreneurship education in the curriculum. Soubhi Mouhammad introduced SPARK, a Turkish – Syrian entrepreneurship program for young entrepreneurs.
During the discussion on the future of entrepreneurship in Syria, Tabba raised the importance of social entrepreneurship, Yassen Najar, the Industrial and Communication Minister/SIG, discussed the role of policy and regulatory systems, Sinan Ogun from Turkey, introduced the Livestock Aid Project Program and Syrian serial entrepreneur, Rasin Katta, focused on the need for entrepreneurs to think global.
About the Syrian Entrepreneurship Forum:
SEF is a Syrian think-tank, registered in Turkey, which is dedicated to promoting and strengthening the economic and democratic development of Syria, for all Syrians, through free-market principles. SEF aims to become the leading institution in public policy research and advocacy in Syria, contributing to reconstruction, reconciliation and national unity. It establishes partnerships and networks with like-minded local, regional and international organizations in order to drive economic reforms. The organization serves as a non-partisan resource for decision makers in the public sector, private sector and civil society. CIPE supports the Syrian Economic Forum to offer positive alternatives to Syrian youth through entrepreneurship and civic engagement.
SEF’s civic education course provides recent Syrian high school graduates with the tools and skills they need to start their own companies. The course is taught by Syrian professors and provides an immersion in entrepreneurship, economics and business skills, in addition to citizenship and democratic participation.
The course reached a total of 508 students during this first phase. In the next phase of the program, SEF will train teams of instructors to implement the course in four Syrian provinces – Aleppo, Idlib, Lattakia and Hama – with the goal of directly reaching approximately 720 students. Additionally, CIPE and SEF will conduct train-the-trainer workshops for 30 high school teachers in camps for displaced Syrians to implement the course in their classrooms and create an online version of the course.
To stimulate broader institutional change, CIPE will support SEF to advocate for the adoption of the curriculum by opposition authorities including the Ministry of Education in the Syrian Interim Government (SIG), the Education Department in the National Coalition of Revolutionary and Opposition Forces (SOC), and local Councils, as the new paradigm for civic education in Syria. In May, SEF signed an MOU with the SIG Ministry of Education to further integration of the course in schools under the Ministry’s cognizance.
Following the completion of the courses, SEF will invite all of the civic education alumni (from phases one and two of the project) to participate in a business plan competition, the winners of which will be awarded seed funding. SEF will coordinate with the local councils in the students’ regions or camp officials as applicable, who will assist the students in setting up their companies.
For more information visit CIPE online.
Photo credit: Flickr