Entrepreneurship & Innovation: A tool toward economic development and job creation

Prof. Ghassan Abu HijlehPresident of Palestine

Ahliya UniversityBethlehem – Palestine

- Member of higher council for Innovation & Excellence – State of

Palestine

Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship: The capacity and willingness to develop, organize and manage a business venture along with any of its risks in order to make a profit. The most obvious example of entrepreneurship is the starting of new business.

Entrepreneur: a person who has ability to create and innovate to build something of recognized value from his around perceived opportunities.

The idea of entrepreneurship, innovation, business incubation and acceleration became very common during the:-Economic crisis of the 1980s in the western countries,-Financial crisis in Asia in 1997-The 2008 economic crisis.

Geographical Distribution of Business Incubators - infoDev

Innovation Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service.

Entrepreneurs need to search for the sources of innovation, they need to indicate opportunities for a successful innovation.

Entrepreneurship in the worldMost of the big economies in the world encourage entrepreneurship due to its impact on the economy

Several big companies in the world started as a small business

The higher the number of SMEs in the country, the lower the unemployment rate.

From dreamers to doers “some of the top

entrepreneurs of our time”

Steve jobs: after being a frustrated student at school, jobs established Apple company ,a market value of 546 billion dollars and 63,300 employees.

Bill gates: changed the world with his innovations. He established Microsoft, a market value of 273.5 billion dollars and 90,000 employees.

Jeff Bezos: the founder of Amazon.com, ignored his boss’ advice and quitted his job to start a business, now with a market value of 84 billion dollars and 56,200 employees.

Larry page and sergey brin: the founders of Google, created a company which current market value 203.2 billion dollars and 32,500 employees.

Howard Schultz: the founder of Starbucks, now his company’s market value is 40 billion dollars with 149,000 employees.

Mark zuckerberg: the founder of Facebook. 75-100 billion dollars market share and 3,200 employees

Small and medium enterprises Recently, are very common.

Even if the huge enterprises take over the SMEs, SMEs will always be there

SMEs are very important to decrease the unemployment rate.

Women can be empowered to start an entrepreneurial business.

In 2013,SMEs accounted for 99.9 per cent of all private sector businesses in the UK, 59.3 per cent of private sector employment and 48.1 per cent of private sector turnover (federation of small businesses in UK)

In some of the western countries SMEs generate more than 30% of the Gross National Product ( GNP).

Entrepreneurship in the world cont.numbers of 2012 (world bank)

Country Number of new limited liability companies

United states of America 3,617,764 ( U.S department of commerce united states census bureau)

United kingdom 445,600

Russia 442,165

South Africa 217,624

Australia 185,009

Hong kong 150,165

France 121,538

India 99,587

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Entrepreneurship in the Arab worldnumbers in 2012 (world bank)

Country Number of new limited liability companies

Morocco 26,166

Tunisia 11,307

Jordan 3,868

Oman 3,165

Qatar 3,053

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Can entrepreneurship be taught?

Can entrepreneurship be taught?Universities can teach the entrepreneurship skills and

knowledge.

Universities can give the students the chance to practice the entrepreneurial process.

Students may be aware of the decision making process.

Students may acquire skills of opportunity recognition and resource acquisition.

Entrepreneurship and innovation in

Palestine

Obstacles facing Entrepreneurship

Palestine is an occupied and isolated country

It is geographically separated and politically divided.

The Palestinian economy is connected, dependent, weak &unsustainable.

The resources in Palestine are limited and controlled by the Israeli occupation.

Increasing number of graduates each year, jobs are limited.

Entrepreneurship culture is still new but promising

Fortunately, the literacy rate is high and the population is young, so investment in entrepreneurship and innovation can be high.

Focus on what exists We have good existing businesses but they need more innovation.

Marble and stone industry – leather and shoes are of these businesses.

Innovation might include creating partnerships with countries like Italy.

This will create a huge volume of trade.

SMEs in Palestine In Palestine the MSMEs employ 85% of the private labor force .

Contribute more than 55% to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP )

This sector is also expected to grow as it is considered relatively immune to political conditions and other issues related to the restricted movement of goods and people. 

Opportunity creationCreating opportunities for entrepreneurs through

universities.

Educate graduates on entrepreneurship and innovation.

Provide free interest loans.

Communicate with donors to include start ups in their donations.

Capacity buildingEntrepreneurship system is trending but slowly.

This is a generations long process

Train students on entrepreneurship ( small business management).

International experts are needed for entrepreneurs to share experience.

Creating better university-market fitClose the gap in number of graduates.

Match the number of graduates with the demand of the market.

Entrepreneurship and innovation within a healthy system is a tool to promote economic growth and create jobs.

Business Incubators University based business incubation programs, help

foster entrepreneurial spirit and increasing the number of successful SMEs.

Incubators are the driver of economic growth through supporting youth entrepreneurial spirit and startup companies.

Jiang Zemin, the former Chinese president said:

“Business incubation is one of the single most important global innovations of the 21

century.”

Thank you