2014

Shifts in population demographics, technological change, fluctuating market conditions and other dynamic forces have transformed societies around the world as never before, bringing new challenges and opportunities to the forefront. To compete and grow in today’s global landscape, the UAE has arrived at a critical juncture of its economic development when future performance of indigenous industry and entrepreneurship will be of central importance to its continued economic and social advancement. The UAE must now become the architects of their own economic future, which means that they must focus their energies and resources on growing a cohort of Emirati entrepreneurs and companies with the ambition, leadership and innovation necessary to achieve success at global scale. In this webinar, I will discuss the book, “Entrepreneurship: An Emirati Perspective”, the UAE’s first book to provide a comprehensive outlook on the role played by Emiratis involved in entrepreneurial activity across the UAE. The discussion on the book presents an opportunity to advance our understanding of the Emirati entrepreneur, the key challenges they may face and the key recommendations to accelerate increased entrepreneurial activity as an impetus towards achieving robust global competitiveness in the years ahead.

Relator: Dr. Halah El-Sokari

Dr. Halah El-Sokari is currently the Advisor to the CEO for the Chairman’s Office at Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development. She has nearly three decades of extensive experience in the field of International Consultancy and Advisory assuming senior strategic roles in a multitude of diverse industries. In 2005, during her senior role at Dubai SME, she initiated the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, an internationally recognized study to benchmark entrepreneurial activity in the UAE amongst 52 countries, as a basis for further policy development in the field of entrepreneurship. Prior to coming to the UAE, she worked as a Senior Wealth Management Specialist for Merrill Lynch and UBS-PaineWebber. She also worked as a Senior Consultant and Advisor to the United Nations Development Program and she was also responsible for setting up a National Association to support youth capacity building and Entrepreneurship Development as well as supporting the inception of the National SME Agency for Export Development. She serves on several boards and is an advisor to several key organizations. She has contributed to numerous publications including co-authoring “ Entrepreneurship: An Emirati Perspective” and “Human Assets”. She holds a PhD, MBA, and BSc in Business Administration specializing in Economics and International Finance with honors from Notre Dame University and Syracuse University in the USA, a CFM and multiple US Exchange licenses: Series 7, Series 63, and Series 65.