Session: «Attracting funding and investment»

In continuation of the activities of the project “Encouraging young entrepreneurs in Gaza to create an entrepreneurial society”, Pal-Think for Strategic Studies held an encounter titled “Attracting funding and investment”, with the attendance of an elite of economists, business consultants, and representatives of the banks in Gaza, in addition to the lending and funding institutions and the private-sector companies.

The encounter was opened by Mr Omar Shaban, director of Pal-Think for Strategic Studies, who welcomed the attendees, thanking them for their attendance, and continued with a sketch of the Pal-Think institution and its role in serving youth and the local community. He likewise presented to the attendees the most important activities and achievements of the project, which began in September 2015 and continues until now. Mr Shaban made clear to the attendees the goal of this encounter, embodied in taking the advice and proposals of the invitees, from the standpoint of their experience in the economic aspects, on the ideas of ten small projects of entrepreneurial young women and men participating in the project — who had previously received an integrated training course titled “How to start your own project”, which took up several topics concerning management, production, marketing, and finance, under the supervision of a team of trainers and mentors from the private sector competent in the aforementioned topics; the training continued theoretically and practically from January 2016 until July 2016. Mr Shaban likewise affirmed Pal-Think's keenness to help these young men and women by connecting them to the bodies and institutions that could help them obtain funding to carry out their projects, and directed the talk in that to the banks and lending institutions that attended the encounter.

The male and female entrepreneurs presented their projects, which included the ideas and goals of the small projects in addition to the financial study and the market's need for such ideas — as they varied between economic, cultural, technological, and others. The presentations were followed by interventions from the attendees, in which they expressed their admiration for the efforts the participants presented and their insistence on going through the experience of carrying out their own projects. The attendees likewise put forward their opinions and recommendations for the participants, in addition to their constructive proposals that serve these ideas and help in carrying them out while guaranteeing their success and continuity. Among these proposals were the necessity of marketing the project and the product excellently, with a focus on the local market's laws, and a wider acquaintance with the foundations of investment and the building of successful projects.

Among the encounter's most important outputs was the readiness of many companies and institutions to embrace such projects and work to help these young men and women carry out their own projects; also the readiness of some banks to receive the participants and present the necessary services to them concerning knowledge of the foundations of funding and lending and the calculations of the true cost of the projects.

The young men and women expressed their approval of the opinions and recommendations directed to them, which will help them much in guidance and in knowing the correct course for carrying out their ideas — which will change much in the course of their lives, indeed will reflect positively on their society.

Worth mentioning here is that the project “Encouraging young entrepreneurs in Gaza to create an entrepreneurial society” is implemented by Pal-Think for Strategic Studies and funded by the Middle East Partnership Initiative, and aims to reduce the unemployment rate among youth in Gaza by way of their finding work opportunities for themselves by themselves, through helping them carry out their own projects.