The King Abdullah II Fund for Development (KAFD) was established by a Royal Decree in 2001 as a non-governmental organization working to provide all segments of the Jordanian community, away from direct loaning, with new and innovative economic opportunities aimed at alleviating their socio-economic burdens in response to their needs, priorities and socio-economic situations. KAFD works to achieve developmental goals in all governorates, elevate the standards of living there and provide talents with opportunities to bloom and excel.

The center aims at national development and planned to be the regions’ corner stone for technology commercialization and entrepreneurship advancement. The QRCE targets university students, researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and others. According to PSUT’s development plan, the next step will be the establishment of a business school to be linked to the center. Working closely with local and international organizations; the QRCE will focus on issues such as: capacity building, consulting, counseling and developing the local “Entrepreneurial Personality & Spirit”. Furthermore, the QRCE will actively work on extending the intellectual wealth of Jordan while maintaining strong links with the business community in general.

The association was officially established in November 1998 as a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and encouraging Entrepreneurship in Jordan and educating Jordanian businesspeople on the social and economic value of non-conventional ideas. For entrepreneurial activates to succeed in Jordan, the YEA recognizes the need for it to act as an advocate for certain legislative change on a national, consumer oriented, mercantile mindset into a productive, creative mentality, which must become the basis for economic growth. The YEA was created to cater to specific needs for young businesspeople that either own their own businesses or hold senior executive positions in a company.

iPARK Technology Incubator provides the needed catalyst to fuel the entrepreneurial process that is pivotal to Jordan’s economic development. Through proper strategic business advice, operational technical support, the provision of an ideal logistical environment and networking, iPARK contributes to increasing the odds of success of its member companies and thus contributes to the growth and development of Jordan’s ICT start-up community. iPARKs’ main objectives include: Expanding the talent/entrepreneurial pool by developing a culture conducive to innovation, Improving managerial, technical and business know how by providing proper consultancy services for startup companies, Increasing the chances of success for small businesses, Creating jobs and enhancing productivity, Encouraging capital investments in these start-ups by presenting and graduating qualified start-ups with proven business models and higher odds of success.

The Arab Business Angels Network (ABAN), is a matchmaking organization, set up to develop the early stage investment asset class within the Middle East and North Africa. As a Business Angels Network, ABAN is the link between entrepreneurs and Angel Investors. It acts as a vehicle to promote entrepreneurship and to facilitate the commercialization of business ideas by channeling seed-capital from private investors into innovative and growth driven start-up and early-stage ventures. Based in Dubai, ABAN is building a community of Angel investors in four focus countries: Jordan, Egypt, KSA & UAE. ABAN was conceived by the Young Arab Leaders during the Clinton Global Initiative in September 2005, with Dubai International Capital as its founder and lead Angel Investor. Additional information about the Arab Business Angels Network is available at www.aban.ae

Catalyst Private Equity is a regional Energy and Water sector product and technology focused private equity firm uniquely structured to have a positive strategic and financial impact on the region. Creation, growth, and success of globally competitive technology, product, and service firms with operations in the Arab World through industrial technology development, promotion, and investment. Catalyst applies a combination of macro economic and strategic frameworks for successful industrial development based on regional and international success stories, with strong on the ground operational experience in growing world class companies with a presence in the region.

TVM Capital, founded in 1983, is one of the first venture capital firms formed in Germany, and an early entrant into the US market in 1986. Since inception TVM Capital has raised over € 1.3 billion in six fund generations and has established itself as a leading international technology investment group. TVM Capital funds have made investments in more than 235 technology and life science companies including emerging technology sectors such as energy efficiency, renewable energy generation, energy storage and water treatment - creating specialized, focused teams and dedicated funds to serve our target markets best. The TVM Capital investment strategy’s major objective is to create global businesses that enjoy worldwide access to science, technology, management talent and capital, and to develop them into significant players in their markets. More than 50 companies went public at European or US stock exchanges. Today, TVM is actively invested in over 70 companies. For more information please visit www.tvm-capital.com.

CNBC Arabiya, the region’s first and premier 24-hour business TV channel broadcasts live, real-time coverage of business in the Middle East in Arabic. Broadcasting from Dubai, the station’s bureaus are located in Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Kuwait City, Doha, Manama, Cairo, Beirut, Singapore and London. Over 200 of the finest journalists and reporters present an unprecedented 15-17 hours of live business news and market coverage directly from the heart of the region’s business centres, continually delivering information that matters. During the day, our stock market coverage is the definitive, and the only television source of regional market activity through live coverage of action directly from the exchanges. In the evening, a lineup of innovative and impactful feature programming and talk shows discuss, debate and present information on an extensive range of regional business, financial and socio-economic topics.

Zawya is the leading business information company serving the high-end business and financial professional community. Headquartered in Dubai, Zawya has a global user base of over 212,000+ high-end business professionals. Zawya covers detailed information on the top 11,000+ companies in the Middle East with comprehensive live news coverage through the exclusive Zawya Dow Jones newswire service. Furthermore, the service provides industry news, macroeconomic reports, country statistics, stock market data as well as specialized databases such as IPO, Sukuk, Mutual Funds, Projects and Private Equity monitors. In addition to subscription services, Zawya offers advertisers the ability to target the most affluent online audience with an interest in the MENA region. Zawya’s online service caters to and attracts only serious professional users and decision makers as it has the only fee paying user base in the region. Visit us today at www.zawya.com .

The Intel® Higher Education Program is a sustained commitment in collaboration with educators and government leaders worldwide to help today’s students prepare for the demands of tomorrow. The program focuses on advancing innovation in key areas of technology, as well as developing a pipeline of world-class technical talent for Intel’s future workforce and the global knowledge-based economy. To achieve this goal, Intel collaborates with top universities worldwide to expand university curricula, engage in focused research, and encourage student participation in research throughout their education. The technical areas include semiconductor technology, high volume manufacturing, microarchitecture/circuits, computing platforms, software, networking, and communications. For more information visit www.intel.com/education/highered

The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), through its Investment & Technology Promotion Office (ITPO) was set up in the Kingdom of Bahrain in 1996. It plays an active role in promoting industry in Bahrain and the region by attracting investment and the latest technology to the country, and at the same time by promoting new opportunities for investors and technology suppliers seeking potential partners.

Riyada Ventures is a venture capital firm that is exclusively and passionately focused on knowledge-based industries in the Arab world. We provide venture capital management and advisory services in technology, media, communication, healthcare, education, and entertainment industries in the Arab countries of the Gulf, Levant, and North Africa regions. We pride ourselves in our track record of entrepreneurship and executive leadership, having founded, created, and managed ground-breaking regional leading firms as well as being sponsors, managers, and advisors of pioneering venture funds, incubators, and corporate investments in the region.

Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Organization is the largest Arab group of professional service firms in the fields of accounting, management consulting, training, intellectual property, legal services, information technology, capacity building, credit information and legal translation, in addition to being an affiliate of the World Bank, the Register of Accountants and Auditors (Washington) and the UN Center for Transnational Corporations (N.Y.). Employing over 1500 multi-disciplined professionals and operating out of 60 offices in the Middle East and North Africa, with representative offices in Europe and North America, TAGO’s member firms were established to serve the Arab countries and foreign firms interested in conducting business in this region. This makes us the only regional firm of international, multilingual, highly trained professionals providing diversified services.

Abdul Latif Jameel Ltd. Co. (ALJ) (www.alj.com) is a Toyota, Lexus and Daihatsu Distributor Company for Middle East Countries. In 2003, ALJ established Community Services Programs (ALJ-CSP) (www.aljprog.org) as the key focus for its community investment (Corporate Social Responsibility) supporting initiatives and projects that align with ALJ’s commitment to social and economic sustainability by creating new job opportunities for young entrepreneurs. Its programs includes Employment Programs (HR Network for employees and employers, Vocational Training & Loan Programs, Vocational Training Centers), Small and Micro Business Loan Programs (Micro Finance, Small and Micro Business Loan, Franchising Entrepreneur Support program, Job Creation Centers), and International Programs (Jameel-Grameen Shikkha Vocational Training Project in Bangladesh, MIT Poverty Action Lab, Jameel Gallery of Islamic Art, Fund for international Scientific Research).