Young entrepreneurs got top quality training in intercultural skills for business from peers in Dubai and London
Abdulkarim Aljarallah and Manar AlOmayri entrepreneurs from the Gulf benefitted from a week of intercultural networking and knowledge sharing between Dubai and London
The aim was to foster Gulf-wide collaboration, help young entrepreneurs develop intercultural skills and gain insight into London’s start up scene
An all-expenses paid trip to Dubai and London including entrepreneurial meet ups and activities for Gulf nationals was held between 28 May 2016 and 4 June 2016
Dubai– Nine young entrepreneurs took part in the British Council’s Dubai-London Enterprise week in which they got the opportunity to connect with their peers in the region and travel to the UK to learn from some of the best minds in London’s start up scene.
The week kicked off with two days of the British Council’s new Intercultural Fluency training held at the Dubai Technology Entrepreneurship Centre (DTEC), the largest entrepreneurship centre in MENA and was followed by a five day visit to London which included visits to Kings College Entrepreneurship Institute and UCL Enterprise Society - a student group which focuses on fostering grassroots entrepreneurship - where they met with their UK peers and engaged with academics. During their session, David Chapman, Deputy Director of UCL’s School of Management encouraged the group of budding entrepreneurs: ‘We need more students and entrepreneurs like you to be ever more mobile, agile, innovative, resourceful and adaptable.’
The group of nine also visited London and Partners’ offices where they were introduced to the benefits London can offer to start-ups – notably it’s booming technology and information sector which is currently growing faster than California’s. Another highlight of the visit was the Institute of Directors – an independent association of business leaders known for its work making the case for enterprise, entrepreneurialism and business in the public and to government. During their visit, participants were introduced to the IoD 99 network for young business owners.
The nine young business owners had the opportunity to work on one challenge specific to their own business with input from experts and from other entrepreneurs in the UK. They came home with new solutions, skills, and ideas for ways to grow or strengthen their businesses, and an expanded network of peers and potential contacts for future collaboration.
Participant Abdulkarim Aljarallah said about his participation “This experience opened wide gates to do business in the UK. I already started one cooperation. Thanks to British council. Plus we had great opportunity to connect together as entrepreneurs from GCC and other parts in the world. A great knowledge I got out of this trip. Especially when it comes to cultural differences and how this is affecting communications in business. “
British Council Country Director in Suadi Arabia , Charlie Walker said We hope this opportunity will make a lasting difference to participants who got the chance to meet top start-ups from across London. Entrepreneurs are really key to driving sustainable knowledge based economies in this region and we were very pleased that we could support Abdulkarim Aljarallah and Manar AlOmayri to gain international visibility and experience.
"KSA SMEs will be key to making Saudi a more diverse and sustainable economy and we feel very happy that we could play a small role in supporting these bright, talented entrepreneurs take their business to the next level and realise their potential."
Participants also took part in the British Council’s new social media campaign تجربتي_غير# which shares personal success stories and learnings of young Gulf nationals who have followed their passion for arts, science, education or business through thick and thin.