From Egypt 2 Dubai
May 29 - Visit to Booz & Co and the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology
Today we visited Booz & Co at the Dubai Internet City campus. Booz & Co is a global leader in strategic consulting and was recently sold to Carlisle, a company that has been part of Booz Allen & Company firm for over 90 years. Booz & Co has 5 offices in the Middle East Region; with the Headquarter office is located in Beirut, Lebanon. Booz & Co has been in the area for the over 30 years, offering services in telecom, media, energy, transportation, financial services and government public sector.
We were warmly greeted by Mr. Ibrahim El Husseinin, Partner and VP. The rest of the afternoon’s presentation was led by Mr. Andrew Horncastle, Principal, Energy Sector. Mr Horncastle and his staff gave us a very informative presentation. The office has 300 plus client staff. The company distinguishes itself from its competitor by providing services in both English and Arabic; in addition, they have built a reputation and a brand name for themselves. They also have strong relationship with key clients both in the government and private sector, a key trait for continued success. The company is growing rapidly, and with rapid growth come some challenges similar to the ones entrepreneurs face, i.e. rapid growth, and scarce resources of qualified individuals. The growth for Booz & Co in the Middle East is 2.1%, this is the fastest and most profitable within Booz & Co portfolio, GDP growth is 6%. UAE is ranked in the top 3 out of 6 Sovereign Fund Leaders, UAE: 875, Saudi 250 and Kuwait 250.
The telecom sector is growing very rapid as well at 14%. Booz & Co currently has 350 employees but is on target to hire an additional 150 personnel by end of next year. In 2008 office reported 60% in annual revenue, and 50% in 2007, this is a positive trend, which is sure to attract more clients and qualified professionals. Booz & Co is aligning itself to be the top consultant of choice in the area. They have a strong history of providing quality work and are on target to continue their double digit growth.
SZABIST
Our next stop was to the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology, located at the Dubai Knowledge Village, one of Szabist campus. Szabist was opened in Dubai four years ago. Szabist has been a key business partner in the Knowledge Village offering a wide range of programs.
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While at the school we were able to participate in numerous team building activities with the students and faculty of the institute which focused on soft management skills. Our evening concluded by having a round table forum where we openly exchanged information about each other, the programs offered at the institute and the admission and graduation process. We also had the opportunity to listen to local entrepreneurs; the founder of Dubai Beat spoke to us briefly www.dubaibeat.com. We also listened to an entrepreneur from Pakistan who is in the Energy and Coal mining business.
Overall our visit to Dubai has been very educational. We learned a great deal about the city and the opportunities it offers in addition to being able to network and build long–term relationships.
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May 28 - Burj Al-Arab Hotel / Dune Buggy Desert Safari
Dubai's highlight and one of the greatest tourist attractions is the Burj Al-Arab Hotel. Awed by its magnificent, we were marveled by what we saw upon entering the well guarded gate. Its sailboat-like architecture gives the illusion of setting sail when approaching. As we entered the revolving door we were greeted by two wonderful hostesses that welcomed and offered us a refreshing hand sanitizer to prepare us for the lunch we were there for.
Burj Al-Arab Atrium Ceiling
The bottom lobby was well decorated with a chase lounge that extended the centermost portion of the middle of the floor between escalators that scaled walls with built in aquariums. Also between the escalators extending all the way to the second level was a nontraditional water fall that had dancing, shooting water that put on a spectacular display ending with multiple spouts merging into one before disappearing. We moved to the second floor where the elevators were located to take us to our lunch engagement but before we went, we took in the sites of the second floor. Here we saw jewelry and clothing boutiques that had items fit for a king. This was indeed no place for the faint at heart when it came to paying a premium for something everlasting. Just when we thought it couldn't get any better than what we had already seen around the corner was a taste of Rodeo Drive in the fashion of a store bearing the same name.
It is now 12:30 p.m. and time for lunch. We arrived at the Junsui Restaurant where we were again taken back by its splendor. Greeted by our hostess she walked us to four sections that made up the many areas of which we would be served. It ranged from Korean, Chinese, Japanese, and Thai. Our tables overlooked the ocean adding to the ambiance of this restaurant that had only been open in the hotel for a short while. The food was magnificent as it was both buffet style as well as table served ensuring that each table received a variety from each represented area in addition to assisting with the floor of traffic to and from the serving areas. We wrapped up with photographs capturing the moments of our wonderful day here for lasting memories.
"Today was truly our Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous!"
Dune Buggy Desert Safari
After our wonderful lunch at the Burj Al-Arab Hotel we were scheduled for a desert safari with Oasis Tour Group. We were not sure what to expect as none of us had ever participated in such an event. We were picked up in SUV's at the hotel and began our journey to the desert far across town for an afternoon of dune bugging and other entertainment.
We met with the rest of the tour group at a central location where we then proceeded to the starting point for our great adventure. Like jack rabbits we took off and sand began to fly everywhere. Voices began to yell and scream with excitement because of the precarious positions the driver had the vehicle in when maneuvering up and down the dunes. Throughout this journey we had several stops for photo opportunities. The first was just for us to shake our legs and check to see how we were doing. The second however was great. We were at the bottom of a very tall sand dune where we jumped out of our vehicles and ran to the very top of the sand dune to take an out of this world photo! Upon completion we loaded up and headed to our third photo op. This consisted of taking pictures of and with the camels. After that we were taken to a compound where we would continue to be entertained with camel rides, sand bogie boarding, shisha, pictures with an exotic bird, Henna, and belly dancing. We also were served a wonderful meal.
The highlight for the most part came at the end of the evening right after the belly dancer finished performing. One of the guides lowered the lights with just a spotlight shining on a hill where the camels were being caravanned home. This was photo op number four which culminated our evening giving us the traditional keep sake of a wonderful evening in the desert.
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May 27 - Meeting Behr Champana
Today we were very excited meeting our entrepreneur in Dubai. His name is (Gilberto) Behr Champana, Vice President and Principal of TVS International. TVS is an architecture firm based in Atlanta, Georgia that has done many projects such as the Georgia Dome, Georgia World Congress Center and the Georgia Aquarium. He always wanted to do international business and he is the reason why his firm has an office in Dubai. He believed that in order to be an architect he had to travel and see what the world had to offer. He has a multicultural background and was raised with the French, English and Spanish cultures which he believes has made him very open to foreign countries. He grew up in Puerto Rico but went to Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana to study architecture. We interviewed him and were amazed at all of his accomplishments and obstacles he had to face in order to get where he is today. One of the main challenges that he initially faced was trying to convince the company to expand in the Middle East. The company started overseas in Latin America and Mr. Champana became the strategic visionary to expand the company internationally. However, he left the company in 1994 because the firm did not want to expand in Dubai. He was doing an experiment and started from zero to figure out how they were going to move forward. The company's main concern was that they didn’t know who was in Dubai and the misperception of the Middle East. In February 2002, Mr. Champana met a guy from India named Raman Krishnan who convinced him of the flourishing opportunities for his company in Dubai. He did research on Dubai and doing business there but it was very difficult to convince the firm that there was opportunity there. It was not until his first client in Dubai led to TVS International decision to expand in the Middle East. He was able to close three contracts and because of their first client, they were able to build their reputation and show the quality and value of their work to the Middle East. In 2004, they were given a permit to work in Dubai and have a branch office located in the Al Moosa Tower 2 located in the downtown area. There are currently 13 employees working at this branch. At the time of opening, they were the third architecture firm to have an office in Dubai. There was a lot of pressure Mr. Champana had to face bringing employees over to the Middle East during the Gulf War in the early 2000s but he has overcame the hardships he has dealt with making this firm a success. One of his biggest accomplishments he achieved was fighting against lymphoma level 4 cancer where he only had a 12% chance of recovering. He was working 1800 hours overtime and not getting enough sleep. He has changed his habits and meditates everyday and is very spiritual. His story was motivating and inspired us to move forward as potential entrepreneurs.
To get the full interview of Mr. Champana, please click here.
Dubai Towers to be completed in 2012
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May 26 – The Apple International School in Dubai
Click Photo to go to Apple Intl' School website
For the last 30 years Nabil Lahir has been successful at establishing schools in underserved markets. Coupled by is initial construction business he was able to duplicate his ideas which originated in India in the U.A. E. In 1994 Mr. Lahir built The Apple International School, a British curriculum school that teaches kindergarten, junior school, and senior school. The per annum tuition to attend the school was set in a way that would allow all facets of society to attend, the standard tuition fee ranges from 5220 to 8100 Dirhams. In addition to the competitive tuition fee, we most also mention the strict admissions which help to insure the school was able to recruit and retain high caliber students. By offering extensive academic and extracurricular activities was one of the ways that The Apple International was able to make this possible.
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He informed us of the challenges his father endured during the inception of The Apple International School, the challenges the school faces today, and the vision he has both the construction and educational businesses he inherited.
His father faced many of the same challenges that many entrepreneurs face when starting a business. Start-up capital was an obstacle he faced. He was fortunate enough to have his construction business help with the funding and hedging the risk in the possibility of over budgeting construction cost because of his experience in this field. The next obstacle was the strict government regulations imposed on companies wanting to do conduct business in the UAE. One of the most prominent issues mentioned was that all improvements and major repairs must first go through government for approval, which in most cases may take a long time to process. In addition to strict guidelines Mr. Lahir has to follow any additions to the educational criteria that the government may set. Many times this does not allow them the time to recruit the teachers with the proper training or post graduate degrees to facilitate the new requirement. This causes increase pressure on the schools resources which may be transferred to the student body. In some instances we believe that Dubai is doing a good job in revamping the education system in order to insure that the people there will be able to compete in the market once the time comes. The Apple International School’s strong market lead and the founder’s vision in promoting the development of creative and critical thinking skills will allow them to foster future leaders of the Middle East.
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May 24 - Welcome to Luxor!
Luxor, Egypt, just south of Cairo, is by far the hottest place in Egypt! The temperature when we landed last night was 103 degrees Fahrenheit. As we head to our hotel, Sofitel Karnak, we noticed the difference between Cairo and Luxor. There is no traffic, very few, if any, high rise buildings and we are truly in the desert! Our trip to Luxor is a fascinating and memorable one although we are only here for a day. We are here to journey through the Valley of Kings and Queens, the temple of Queen Hatshepsut and the temples of Karnak and Luxor. We had to be at the Valley of Kings and Queens by 6 am because between the hours of noon and 4 p.m., the temperature becomes extremely hot and nothing goes on during that time. We were able to pick back up with our tour to the Karnak and Luxor temples around 4 p.m.. Our tour guide gave us interesting facts about the city of Luxor. Farming is the primary activity in the city; however, tourism is the primary means of revenue then farming. The main crop harvested is dead palms and sugar cane. The only irrigation is through the Nile and the locals use archaic way irrigation. Moreover, it only rains half an inch a year.
Valley of Kings and Queens
At the Valley of Kings, we visited three tombs: Ramses I, Ramses III, and Ramses IV. Like most of the tourism places we have visited, we were not allowed to take pictures inside the tombs. Everything is carved out of limestone. The building of the tombs began when a Pharaoh took power and stopped when the Pharaoh died. It was very noticeable where the work in the tombs was unfinished. For instance, when we visited Ramses I tomb, his chamber was noticeably short because he was only in power for two years. On the other hand, the longest tomb we visited was Ramses III; he was in power for a number of years longer than Ramses I. The workers had 70 days after the death of the King to do the final touches. The average time to build the tombs was 20 years, and it took 100 laborers to complete the work. It is astonishing to know that the Ancient Egyptians had a structured system. We believe this is an important factor in order to run any business. The workers were divided in six groups to complete the tombs. The first group would dig the cave and the second group would go in after the first chamber was opened up to smooth them out. The third group sketched the walls in red ink, which was blood from an ox. The fourth and fifth group consisted of the Chief Artist that would do the final touches and edit with black ink. The final group would engrave the black lines and fill in the color.
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The hieroglyphics on the walls of the tombs is the only treasure found in the Valley. Most of the artifacts are preserved in the Cairo Museum, which we visited on Sunday. The beliefs depicted on the walls come from five religious books the Ancient Egyptians used; the most important is the Book of the Dead.
The Valley is equivalent to the Giza Plateau in Cairo but there is an obvious difference. In Giza, it is the necropolis of the Old Kingdom which existed in 3000 b.c. In contrast, the Valley of Kings is the necropolis of the New Kingdom, 1500 b.c. Moreover, Memphis, the city we visited on Tuesday, was the capital during the Old Kingdom and is near Giza while Thebes, also referred to as Luxor, became the capital of the New Kingdom. Kings from the New Kingdom were buried here because of its high elevation and dry climate. . Another not noticeable difference was the secretive placement of the entrance to the tombs. Theft was also more apparent in the New Kingdom. It is believed that the Mayor of Thebes was involved in robbery. This goes to show that bribery and corruption in business was prevalent even during this time.
There are 30 Royal families of the Ancient Egyptians. The 3rd and 4th Dynasty was in reign during the Old Kingdom while the 18th, 19th and 20th Dynasty reigned in the New Kingdom, which is 1500 years later than the Old Kingdom. Names such as Ramses, Seti, Akanaton, Nefititi, and Tutkhatamun are all from the New Kingdom.
Valley of Queens- The temple of Queen Hatshepsut
On the way to the Valley of the Queens, Stephen MacDonald, a fellow classmate on the trip, gave a presentation about the great Pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut. She strategically made herself the leader of this city and her temple is incredibly phenomenal with columns positioned evenly amongst each one and statues still intact.
Karnak Temple
This temple is the largest of all in Luxor, covering 60 acres of land. The temple is inundated with columns and statues as tall as 80 feet. Most of the statues were carved out of a single block of limestone and it took about 200 years to build this temple. The temple was used for 1800 years, being one of the longest structures ever used to date. Ramses II is found throughout the temple due to his long reign of 96 years. Most of his statues included his wife but he ordered her to be constructed in a much smaller statue compared to his. The temple was not complete due to invasion and we were able to get a glimpse of how they were able to move such large stones.
Luxor Temple
Luxor Temple is much smaller than the Karnak Temple. It expressed the times of Kings, including Alexander the Great. Interesting fact is he had his wall built that depicted him as a pharaoh. A 800 year old church was also found in the temple and it is very distinctive of the influence the Romans had on the Ancient Egyptians. We seen some of the walls in the back of the temple were painted with Roman pictures, covering up the Egyptian hieroglyphics. This shows the timeline of the temple as well.
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May 23 - Visit to the Community & Institutional Development (CID) Schools
Today we completed our last sight seeing tour in Cairo, Egypt. This tour, although very different from the others, was extremely touching to say the least. We visited the Community & Institutional Development schools in Manchiyet Naseer, Cairo’s garbage collecting neighborhood, one of the largest informal settlements in the world and one of the poorest towns in Egypt. Dr. Laila Iskander Kamel, founder and Managing Director for the Community & Institutional Development (CID) Group, along with Mr. Ezaat Naem Gundy, Executive Director of Spirit Youth NGO, greeted us at the entrance to Manchiyet Naseer. You could immediately smell the stench of waste. Neither words nor pictures can describe the scene we came upon. The streets were filled with waste, some recycled some waiting to be recycled and in midst of this is where the local residents live, shop and eat. The town of Manchiyet Naseer recycles over 80% of the trash in Egypt.
CID runs two programs, Spirit of Youth Association for Environmental Services and The Egyptian Boys Recycling School of Mokattam . The curriculum found at these schools is different than the ones the government mandates. These programs are the only of its kind in Egypt and in the Middle East.
In addition to teaching these young and upcoming professionals a new trade, the schools teach them the importance of reading and writing, personal hygiene and safety measures that need to be taken in order to prevent accidents from happening while doing their job. Personal hygiene is also extended to the family and this is done through a book which is created at the school and sent to the family members. Since most of the community is illiterate, the books are composed of pictures to convey the message. The ages of the students range from 8 – 19 years old. Another point of interest is that the students also learn how to use computers, create maps and work with Microsoft Excel.
The goal of most of these students is to one day own the recycling companies that they now support.
Prior to visiting the Cotton Recycle Center, we were taken to the local hall of committees, St. Saman El Kharaz and the Church of Saint Marcus, a Coptic Christian church. The site was breathtaking; the artistic work done on these walls is phenomenal.
Our next stop was at the Cotton Recycle Center for girls. This initiative was started in 1987 when a friend asked a Fortune 500 CEO to donate excess textile free of charge. In addition to this agreement, the Embassy donated a truck for the collection to be possible. This school is very similar to the Egyptian Boys Recycling School. Here, not only do the girls learn to create beautiful products but they also learn to read, write, plan and do calculations in order to create the final product to its required dimensions. The pay is based on merits. The first training came from a couple of ladies from Texas who lived in Egypt because their husbands were involved in the oil business. There are also volunteers and designers who volunteer their time to teach these young ladies how to weave and create beautiful products. The sale consists of seasonal and customized orders. Global Village places a yearly order with the school. The majority of the revenue comes from an annual exhibit held in New York before Christmas.
In closing, as discussed earlier this tour was very moving. The town, one of the poorest in Egypt has no unemployment due to the extensive efforts done by Dr. Kamel, Mr. Gundy, the teachers, students and people in this town. They know what perseverance and determination means and have proven that having the will, passion and love will help you persevere. They take pride in everything they do, whether it is collecting trash, recycling bottles, playing a traditional song for us, greeting or sharing their duties with us. We hope that CID is able to overcome the challenges that they currently face and that more people will be willing to join them in this battle that benefits everyone not only in Egypt but around the world. Kudos to the people of Manchiyet Naseer.
Spirit of Youth Association for Environmental Services
The Spirit of Youth Association is active in Cairo’s garbage collector’s neighborhood in Manchiyet Nasser, one of the largest informal settlements in the world. The NGO works to protect and empower children by allowing them to learn while they work and by preparing them for work as adults in the same trade they are in now, but in a professional capacity and not as exploitative, hazardous labor.
The Egyptian Boys Recycling School of Mokattam
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The Boy’s Recycling School was designed and launched by C.I.D. – a consulting firm- and was first funded by UNESCO and inaugurated in December 2001. A partnership followed with multinational companies suffering from their empty plastic containers being fraudulently refilled and resold on the Egyptian market. The school targets the children of waste collectors in the marginalized Mokattam neighborhood, who lack access to formal school education. Nearly one hundred learners currently benefit from the program.
The program is designed to incorporate education, work experience, environmental protection, poverty alleviation and earning to create a matrix where actions improve an impoverished community on many levels. The Rotary Sunrise Club provided computers for IT classes as well as books and toys. Schneider Electric donated a plastic granulator, and numerous other donors supported the school. The Mokattam model creates a prototype linking the interests of the multinationals to the poor. Thus globalization and poverty alleviation can meet in that nexus.
Direct cooperation with multinational companies protect their containers from brand name fraud by recycling empty brand name shampoo containers, recovered by the learners, who bring them to the school and fill out a form showing how many bottles they retrieved. The multinationals pay for this as well as for the granulation of their containers, and the school re-sells granulated plastic to the recycling industry. The generated income covers the salaries of the teaching staff.
Source CID Consulting
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May 22 - Entrepreneur Visit to USAID, Social Fund for Development, Meeting Mohamed Radwan and Our Entrepreneur Interview
As we draw closer to the end of our visit in Cairo our days seem to grow longer. Today we are scheduled to meet with agencies and entrepreneurs that are and have been instrumental in businesses getting started and growing.
First stop was the United States Agency of International Development (USAID) of Egypt. We met with Dr. Joe Ryan, Officer of Foreign Affairs, who is responsible for approving projects that fit the guidelines of the USAID. Next we met with Mr. Mohamed Radwan, Managing Director of Platinum Partners which is a marketing consulting firm. He spoke to the group and gave us his perspective on entrepreneurship and doing business in Egypt. Lastly, we met with entrepreneurs Souraya Helmy, Mohammed Abdel Baseet, and Eman Abdella. This function was arranged by Mona Yacoub and made possible by Hanna El Hilay, the woman we met yesterday from Social Fund for Development. Each of the individuals were recipients of funding through the Social Fund for Development and shared with us their story of how the Fund has made a difference in their lives.
USAID
For more information about USAID click on the logo
The USAID Egypt opened in 1975. This is a decentralized organization in over 50 countries that provides assistance for low to middle income areas where there is a social economic need. The hallmark of this agency is to provide information systems technical training for projects and not act as a lender as they are not a bank. Projects for aid are selected by the foreign affairs officers whose tour in any given country is four years. Successful and complete projects in Egypt have been an Interim Customs Project sponsored by Booz Allen Hamilton and a Trade Reform Project in MIT co-sponsored by Nathan. There are other projects in queue that cover three sectors: financial, trade, and business facilitation. The goal of the USAID is to assist these countries in growing economically.
Mohamed Radwan
Dr. Mohamed Radwan met us out at the TGI Friday’s restaurant on the Nile River and spoke with the group about doing business in Egypt. He currently has a marketing consulting firm that does business in 19 countries. He stated that the vast majority of entrepreneurial businesses in Egypt are service related. He also identified two areas that have a need for entrepreneurs in Egypt: trade and advertising. In starting a business in Egypt the number one source of funding is "friendly money," similar to our concept of Friends and Fools or OPM (Other's People Money), then bank loans, followed by leases. He explained to us the tax breaks that entrepreneurs received from starting a business in addition to how IPO's are done. A great deal of the information he gave follows traditional textbook guidelines, however, it was interesting to find out that most of the entrepreneurs are native Egyptians that left and returned back to start a business.
PLATINUM PARTNERS
www.platpartners.com
Social Fund for Development (SFD)
Below are the Entrepreneurs that utilized funds from the SFD. Highlighted are key points that were taken from their heartfelt stories of how they got started.
Ms. Souraya Helmy: (Garments/Sheets)
• Graduated with an Economics degree in 1982 and worked as an Accountant for a while after graduating
• Started her business with 20 Egyptian Pounds by participating in exhibits
• Received first Social Fund loan after the Minister of Social Affairs attended an exhibition and saw her work
• 1st loan received was for 10,000 Egyptian Pounds
• Funds from first loan was used to purchase a sewing machine and material to fill orders of which she did not have enough material
• Later received training sponsored by SFD in marketing after getting a feasibility study done on her business
• 2nd loan was received in the amount of 200,000 Egyptian Pounds and later she received loan number three
• Bank asked that she do business with them exclusively and not with the Social Fund. She refused and underwent hardships for a period but worked through it
• Networking, determination, and the Social Fund helped her work get back on top of her business of which she is very thankful.
Quote: "It's good to feel loved and that's the best thing in life!"
Ms. Eman Abdella: (Prosthetics)
• Stated her business because of an accident her husband had and she wanted to do something that could help those in a similar situation
• Her training for her business came from working in a manufacturing factory. She took that knowledge and started the business from her home
• Was afraid to take funds from SFD at first and declined their first offer
• Later took a loan from the fund of 1000 Egyptian Pounds to get more equipment to produce parts of which she marketed to pharmacies
• 2nd loan was received from Social Fund which lead to 100,000 Egyptian Pound turnover on sales
• Partner made bad deals which caused the business to take a negative turn thus leaving her in business by herself
• 3rd loan was received which she used to buy 10 machines that allowed her to build her business back to a positive, revenue driven establishment
• She is the only woman in this field in Egypt
Quote: "Thank God for my success"
Mr. Mohammed Abdel Baseet (Chinaware)
• University Graduate
• Dean from the University recognized his talents in ceramics and supported him
• Got married and consolidated funds to see how much they had to start a business
• Social Fund assisted with exhibition to market his product
• 1st loan from fund of 200,000 Egyptian Pounds
• Contracted orders and now works with 6 major clients
• Started business with 25,000 Egyptian Pounds. Now looking to expand
Quote: "Thanks to the Social Fund"
Meeting Tamer Talaat
Tamer Talaat is a young entrepreneur in Cairo, Egypt. He is a graduate of Cairo University where he studied to be a pharmacist. Shortly after graduating he decided to put his degree to work by opening his own pharmacy. Having grown up in Egypt, Tamer knew and understood the red tape associated with starting a business but pressed on. Most potential entrepreneurs in Egypt allow risk to deter their dream, this was not the case for Tamer.
After gathering his initial start-up capital he found a prime location in what we believe to be in the outskirts of the financial district. Having a strong relationship with a financial institution is particularly important when starting a business. Prior to opening his pharmacy he was told by many that being a Christian would make it difficult to be successful in a culture where Islam is prevalent. Tamer took a greater risk by naming his pharmacy "Mena", named after a Christian Saint in Egypt. In doing so he proved them wrong and did so impressively. In the six years that his pharmacy has been opened, he has been able to achieve financial independence.
He explained the biggest challenge he experienced was keeping his pharmacy in stock because of the number of the competing stores that were located in Egypt. He said that there is a store every 10 meters and if a customer came to him and the product was not available the current and future business may be lost. This is critical because there is no way to differentiate yourself with price since they were all regulated by the government. Not only could that affect him in the short term but long term as well when building a relationship that relies on your reputation. A personal trait that he stressed was the social relationship in the community; it is the most important thing for him when operating his business and being successful. He said “It’s all about relationships and if you have none you cannot prosper.” We saw this in practice first hand when our interview was interrupted several times by loyal customers that entered the store.
The interview ended over beverages, a few photos, and the exchanging of contact information. Overall we walked away with a greater understanding of the Egyptian culture and how it affects doing business in Egypt in addition to a friend.
To get the full interview of Mr. Talaat, please click here
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May 21 - AmCham
We began our day meeting with several entrepreneurs. Our first stop was the American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt, which is an organization that took 28 years to establish and finally opening its door to the Egyptian people in 1981. Initially AmCham created this Social Fund for Development in order to build a strong relationship between Egypt and United States. In an effort to gain a broader understanding, we were able to speak with two representatives, Hanna El Hilaly, the Director General of the International Cooperation Group and Mohammed El Kalla, the Co-Chairman of the Educational Committee at AmCham. According to Mr. El Kalla, in the past 28 years AmCham has been able to recruit 1500 members and establish 22 sectional communities. The main objective of the Social Fund for Development is job creation and the reduction of poverty particularly for small and medium business. The Chamber's aggressive television advertisement and awareness projects conducted at universities has allowed for much needed exposure. Some of the services provided are:
• Business match making
• Soft skill and online training
• Information of all the incentives
Most importantly the chamber is currently working on hedging against such conflicts that effect both potential and current business. Some of the most recent activities involve:
• Exhibitions to launch new business
• Legal impowerment laws
This amazing organization does come with its challenges:
• Lack of capital, cater more to big business
• Lack of professional training
• ineffective marketing strategy
One particular question that was common among the group was "what type of business would work best in Egypt?" The answer was quite simple, franchises. Foreign commodities have become quite popular and have shown to be the most risk adverse business to start.
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May 20 - Pyramids, Pyramids and More Pyramids
We had an early start today. We began our day by traveling to Memphis. On our way we had the opportunity to venture to the courtyard where elaborate statues of limestone were being displayed. Memphis is the first capital in Egypt. This is also the site where King Ramses II statue lays horizontally made out of a single block of limestone that weighs over 200 tons! Our journey then took us to the necropolis at Saqqara where King Zoser pyramid was built by the first renowned architect Imhotep. This site is the largest necropolis in Egypt. The collection of pyramids, temples and tombs is key in understanding the history in Ancient Egypt. The next stop was the Great Pyramids of Giza. Before our journey to the pyramids we stopped by the Sakkarra Carpet School. It is the first carpet school in Memphis. We took a tour of the school and was given a brief lesson on how the carpets were made by students. The students completed these beautiful carpets in about three months.
We arrived to the Great Pyramids of Giza. It was an amazing site to see the only Seven Wonders of the World still standing! We also enjoyed an evening visit back to the Great Pyramids to see the amazing light show at the Sphinx. Although this was a breath-taking moment for us, we were consistently bombarded by barters of all ages. Would this define an entrepreneur? We asked our tour guide and he considered them not to be. However they do show a few characteristics of an entrepreneur. Whether it be necessity or opportunity, an entrepreneur does not have to be a specific age nor do they have to be creative. Every barter that approached us were selling us the same items: postcards, Arabian head wraps, or even a camel ride. They are very aggressive with their marketing approach and are very persistent. It was a distraction to us and something we have never experienced. It was similar to our first adventure in Cairo after leaving the Cairo Museum when we were approached by the barters selling the papyrus paintings. We believe that these barters are entrepreneurs by necessity.
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May 19 - IBM Egypt Branch
This morning we are heading to IBM Egypt Branch. The location is secure and we were not allowed to take pictures of the exterior of the building nor surroundings. As we take our seats, we are welcomed by Nadine Hafez, IBM's Communication Director. This is our first entrepreneurial visit in Egypt. IBM Egypt was established in 1954 and is known for its stability in the market. It has a 25% market share in Egypt and has $100 million in revenue, growing in the double digits. They have approximately 500 employees. We could not believe the accomplishments IBM has established in such a country as Egypt. Our perception of technology in Egypt has altered from believing there was no demand for such infrastructure. The topic of Information Technology (IT) in Egypt was led by three representatives: Amr Talaat, Mona Arishi and Dina Galal. Each speaker was impressive to us because of their high level positions within the company and the knowledge they shared with us about the Egyptian economy.
Amr Talaat, IBM Egypt Territory Manager
It is interesting to know that Mr. Talaat controls almost everything in the company. It was a great honor for him to come speak to us. He gave us a brief overview of the country's economy and how it correlates to the Information Technology sector in Egypt.
Egypt has experienced an economic boom for the last 2-3 years. Information Technology and technology in general plays a major role in Egypt's Economical Program that was created in 2004. One of the greatest improvements in Egypt is that the economy has been growing 7% for three years and the Foreign Direct Investment has increased within the past two years. However, inflation is still a challenge for Egypt as well as the currency against the Euro. Some of the positives Mr. Talaat mentioned about Egypt was there is security improvement, tourism has increased from 6 million to 10 million people per year, and there is a real estate boom with mass investment because of price increase in the market. With the wealth of information we received, it is important to know that technology is a major source of income and it is a way to improve the economy and create more jobs. Egypt's Prime Minister is an IT professor and the government is a great supporter of technology. IBM Egypt is the IT leader of Egypt. Their main competitors are the Indians and local system integrators as well as hardware companies. IBM Egypt is selling value proposition to customers. The company understands the culture and problems in Egypt and a personal relationship is built between the customer. Their on-time deliver is a success. Growth areas for IBM Egypt is the government, banking, Telco and SME manufacturing companies exporting goods. Their main customers are government, banks and Telco. There biggest market share is in infrastructure at 40%. The information Mr. Talaat presented was overwhelmingly astonishing to hear. He truly gave us a better understanding of the IT sector in Egypt.
Mona Arishi, Senior Manager of Technology Development Center (TDC)
Ms. Arishi has been with the company for about 25 years and focuses on quality as a business imperative. She is the leader of the Women's Leadership Forum which has over 60 members. Ms. Arishi told us she was Muslim and informed us that women in Egypt have a choice whether or not to wear a head scarf. The reason we mention this is because of our misconception of the Islamic religion and how it affects business in Egypt. It is fascinating to see a woman in such a high level position working at an Egyptian company balance the religion and conduct business that is paving the way of a better country.
In 1982, researchers focused on Arabic were trying to find a way to do a proper search before the World Wide Web was created. They developed a bi-directional coding for Arabic translation in 1986 where different languages would decipher the Arabic language. The Technology Development Center is a global resource site where high-quality professionals provide competitive services to IBM customers and units around the world. It is based on decoding, software engineering, and maintenance. They started with 40 people and have grown to 450 people working who all are multilingual. English is a requirement for IBM. Employees are certified which is recognized worldwide because they are selling their skills. The Certification for Software Quality Engineering or the CMMI Level 5 has the highest level possible and is also the best practices. It is a three year certification. It focuses on the quality of delivery. As Ms. Arishi mentioned before, quality is key and more importantly testing quality is done to make sure the customer receives what he or she asks for.
Dina Galal, Middle East Egyptian and Pakistan (MEEP) Diversity Leader
Our final guest speaker for IBM is Ms. Galal, the government program executive. She started the communications area in IBM Egypt as an administrative secretary. She also started the Diversity Women Leadership Counsel and Romment Program for MEEP.
In July 2004, MEEP had started the reform for off-shoring. There are 16 countries involved with MEEP. The languages they are promoting are Arabic, English, French, German, and Spanish. They have 28 Governances. Dr. Narif was the first Director of Communication. The GDP is greater than 1.2 and growing at 5.5% per annum. Foreign Direct Investment is growing at 38%. GDP order is Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. There is an IT market for Saudi Arabia and all of the Arabic countries are working on reform. The EISI is the communication and IT. Literacy is 71.4%. There was political pressure for Muslim brotherhood because it cannot form a political party but they are a strong group. The Customs Reform is 14.6 to 6.2 cycle time. It is reduced tariff bands. The Open for Business is a Tax Reform in 2004 that cut taxes 32%-20%. It is corporate and committed to reform. The Investor Protection is a corporate governance that has anti-trust laws and protects against exportation. Consumer protection is also important. The streamlining of procedures is the one stop shop and reduces company fund requirements. Ms. Galal also mentioned there is strong government support and their vision is job creation. Their slogan is "What Makes Egypt Special". The authority started a strategy to find competitive advantages such as low cost operations. Three things must be accomplished for IT. First is low cost, such as salary wages, telecom and real estate costs. Then there is skill or expertise. Lastly an open business environment and world class business environment. Smart village is being built for just off-shoring companies.
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May 18 - Cairo Museum
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Upon arriving to Egypt 2:00 am, we had an afternoon tour of the Cairo Museum. As we drove to the museum we learned more about the great country of Egypt. Furthermore, we learned the importance of the road that would lead us to this museum. The Intercontinental Hotel where we are lodging was placed along a road called Cairo Alexandria. It is the oldest road in Egypt and stretches from Cairo to Alexandria as the name implies. This road covers 125 miles and it was at one point a desert. Cairo is one of the most populated cities in the world and is known as the political capital of Egypt while Alexandria is the financial capital.
As we looked at the amount of buildings that were constructed in order to accommodate the growing population, we had a greater understanding of why there is such as high level of traffic congestion but also how an inventor was able to convince the government to fund a project that would take advantage of the high traffic volume, create clean renewable energy and reduce the countries dependability on foreign oil. This brings a midst of a country that is said to have one of the lowest levels of entrepreneurship.
[Did you Know...]
Ten years ago there were not many buildings in the city of Cairo, it was mostly farm land. Cairo was known for having the best soil around. Houses are usually completed in a 10 year timeframe, at times the exterior of the houses are never finished, however the interior is immaculate. Currently, Cairo's growth rate has been 2.1 % year over year. An interesting turning point in history was in 1952. An army of troops held a revolution against the reigning king and the population at the time was 27 million. Today it is over 80 million, however this number is not statistically confirmed because data has not been recorded properly. The Nile River runs from East to West and there are two dams that prevent it from overflowing, the Aswan Dam and the High Aswan Dam. The Aswan Dam was built in the 1900s with help from the British. The second dam was built in 1960 with help from the Soviet Union and it was a $200 million project.
Splendid visit to the Museum of Antiquities in Cairo, Egypt:
The Museum of Antiquities in Cairo was built in 1902 and houses over 100,000 pieces of artifacts, which is the biggest collection ever in the world. Of the 100,000 pieces, 40,000 are displayed while the other 60,000 are in storage. Of all the artifacts at the museum, one of the most impressive was the Rosetta Stone. The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 in Alexandria, Egypt. It took over 20 years of studies to decipher the code. It was deciphered by a French gentleman named Jean Francois Champollion. The stone is over 2200 years old. The stone consists of one message in three text codes. The first, Decree, which is the Greek section, provided translation of Egyptian Hieroglyphic. The other two are in Hieroglyphic and Demotic versions. The translation is a thank you letter from priests in 196 B.C. to the reigning king and queen of the time. The letter was encrypted due to its political association. As the tour came to a close we took wonderful photographs outside of the museum where we were able to capture our experience with a tangible memory other than words. We were not allowed to bring cameras inside of the museum. Finally it was time to board the bus and head back to the hotel where we encountered a taste of the local entrepreneur spirit of bartering with the selling of “authentic” papyrus paintings. Our tour guide mentioned that this is usually their best means for providing for their family. Could this be our first look at necessity entrepreneurship or could this be classified as entrepreneurship by opportunity? This is the beginning of what will be an excellent experience in both Egyptian history as well as entrepreneur promise.
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May 16-18
Our Adventure En-route to Egypt
We have arrived in Cairo, 2:05 a.m. local, Sunday May 18, 2008. We had an uneventful trip but with some excitement along the way of course!!! We had a layover in Amsterdam for a little over 12 hours. In addition to visiting some fascinating places such as Anne Frank’s House and the famous Red Light District, we were able to learn a great deal about each other. On the flight from Amsterdam to Cairo, we sat next to a gentleman named Sami, an Egyptian native from Alexandria. He gave us a quick geography lesson on the five Oasis of Egypt. He also shared with us that he would be meeting his niece for the first time; his sister recently had a baby. As we explained to him what we were going to do while in Egypt and Dubai, he offered to give us his phone number so that we may call him if we had any questions regarding Egypt. We also learned that his brother is the owner of Alrahainn Hotels. He asked that we call his brother if we needed to interview him. This would be a great opportunity to learn how an Egyptian Hotel is run as a business and potentially give us insight as entrepreneurs to invest in. We had a pleasant finish to our 24 hour journey. The staff from TP Travel Plus was very helpful in getting us through customs and getting us safely to the hotel. We are staying at the Intercontinental Pyramids Park Resort in Cairo and the place is beautiful!!
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May 17
Amsterdam (The Hidden Mysteries Of The Red Light District)
While Amsterdam is known for many great attractions such as the Anne Frank House it may be most noted for its mysterious Red Light District. On our way to Cairo, Egypt we had the opportunity to spend a day in Amsterdam. Not sure of what to expect, our group decided to visit the city and see what it had to offer. Although interested in seeing the Ann Frank Museum we were also intrigued with the Red Light District through the eyes of an entrepreneur.
Some would consider the Red Light District taboo by culture but when speaking to visitors and those who have visited, they had a quite different approach. What we came to realize was that this was a place of curiosity and to experience things that was uncommon to most countries.
When walking through the district we noticed the women were displayed to on lookers with the hopes of luring them in and offering personal services to them for monetary exchange. This prompted us to question where this all originated, who was the person who started such a business, and was this in realty beneficial to either party? This type of business can prove to be lucrative especially since it is all legal and allows visitors to take a part of something they would not normally do while in their native land. From an entrepreneurial standpoint this was a brilliant concept knowing very well that people would be visiting on a regular basis and that most people have an embedded sexual curiosity. The potential profit could be exponential. This captures the essence of entrepreneurship by finding a niche and turning it into a revenue generating venture. The mystery of it all lies in the workers. What drove them to take part in such a business and what is their benefit? We knew that the answer lied with paying for personal time with one of the women but that was beyond our moral means. Additionally were the women there on their own free will or was this the essence of modern day indentured servitude? We may never know without compromising our own personal beliefs. What we do know with certainty is this paints an abstract picture of entrepreneurship of both necessity and opportunity.
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May 13 - Preparing to Leave
As we do our final packing, we get into our entrepreneurial mindset and focus on the opportunities both Egypt and Dubai has to offer for starting a business. We look forward to meeting with entrepreneurs and listening to their experiences. We were fortunate to meet an Egyptian woman before we leave to give us some insight on business in Egypt. Her name is Narges Ibrahim and she owns a store called Egytian Corner (hyperlink www.egyptiancorner.net) in Discover Mills Mall located in Lawrenceville, GA. She told us that Muslim women in Egypt have the opportunity to start their own business and her sister has her own business in Egypt. We hope we are able to interview her sister during our stay in Egypt. We are excited to learn that Muslim women do business in Egypt and Dubai and there is so much more we want to know! Do the entrepreneurs in Egypt have the same opportunity to start a business in Dubai and vice versa? Do we have a chance to start a business in either country being an American? These are some of the questions we hope to answer during our 14-day adventure.
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May 7 - Dubai and Egypt
Continuing with our view of the real estate market we decided to take a look at Egypt and give a snapshot of how it compares to Dubai. We noted in our first blog profits and growth in the Dubai real estate market lets now look at Egypt. With aggressive real estate growth predictions in 2006 Reuter reported the following for 2007: Alexandria Real Estate Investments surged nine fold in 2007 to 1.47 billion Egyptian pounds ($268.26 million) compared to 148.2 million pounds in 2006. Talaat Mustafa subsidiary earnings per share jumped from 19.54 pounds to 149.25 pounds in 2007. These are just two groups that show aggressive growth numbers. Let’s now take a look at it from a development vantage point. Riding the huge real estate development wave from Dubai, Egypt is being viewed as the next best place for major development projects. Because of its location, Egypt has a similar appeal to that of Dubai without all of the commercial accoutrements. The attractiveness of Egypt for this type of development becomes even sweeter because of the low input costs and stability. This opens up the door for real estate and development entrepreneurs to come in with the potential to make sizable profits if they strike in the right place and at the right time. Two major players in the Dubai real estate development arena, Emaar Holdings and Damac, have already begun their quest to develop in Egypt through land acquisitions. There is concern however that these developments will become “ghost towns” or “ghost communities” according to AME Info sources (Sunday, March 09-2008). This is due largely to past ventures of a similar magnitude of which Egyptians closed and opened the areas on a seasonal basis which cause the development to become a very bad investment. Analysts feel this can be remedied if the areas are marketed well along with continuous occupancy. A number of concessions have been made to stimulate the real estate market in Egypt but will it be enough to reach and surpass the growth of 2007? Furthermore, will it be enough to attract entrepreneurs interested in the Egyptian real estate market?
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May 1 - Dubai continues to capitalize on property sales
Is Dubai part of an economic bubble like the United States was in the 1990, with the development of power generation and the rapid growth of the dot com companies? Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and other investors continue to capitalize on property sales. Dubai, which is the largest world's oil producing region, also capitalizes on real estate and property sales. We can clearly see that Dubai's economy is booming but for how long? Most of the property being built in Dubai is empty and their government debt is 40%. The largest Arab real estate company, Emaar Properties, is owned by the government of Dubai. Last year, Emaar's profit rose 3.5%. Dubai Holding Commercial, which competes with Emaar Properties, has sold 1 billion dirhams ($270 million) of bonds that mature this year, $500 million in 2012, 750 million euros ($1.17 billion) in 2014 and 500 million pounds ($994 million) in 2017 (Reuters). Last year, Dubai Holding Commercial Operations Group net income rose to 14.15 billion dirhams ($3.85 billion) in the year to December 31 from 7.6 billion dirhams in 2006 (Dubai International Financial Exchange (DIFX) website). Revenue from the sale of land surged almost eight-fold to 8.7 billion dirhams from 1.2 billion dirhams, while property sales generated 5.1 billion dirhams.
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