On January 15th the MENA Initiative hosted a panel discussion focused on the new investment opportunities in the Middle East and North Africa. MENA Initiative Director Bradley Bosserman moderated the wide ranging conversation.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Naz Ash highlighted some of the exciting work that the State Department is doing to support entrepreneurship in the region, while articulating the critical role that economic statecraft plays in supporting US interests abroad.
Leslie Jump presented a robust vision of the exciting and fast-growing start-up culture that her venture capital fund is supporting. She discussed the opportunities and challenges presented by investing in early stage companies in the region and touched on her firm’s innovative new entrepreneurship accelerator in Cairo.
Phillip Blumberg explained how his company is overcoming hurdles in order to bring their proprietary new agriculture technology to market in North Africa and the Middle East. He shared his unique experience of doing business in the region and argued that many more opportunities can be made available by effectively aligning US policy with the needs of private sector firms interested in long-term regional investments.
You can follow this link to download full audio of the event.
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- Middle East Partnership Initiative
The MENA Initiative 