Logistics boss demands regional bureaucratic shake up - AME Info

Quoting:

Ghandour has warned that unless governments take quick action to lessen red tape, chances for a revival of Arab entrepreneurialism will become farfetched. 'The heavy hand of government stifles entrepreneurialism and creativity.

'The modern day Arab world is simply not conducive to entrepreneurs. There is too much bureaucracy, and the banks are too traditional to lend money with any risk attached.

'There is a lack of start-up capital available in the region, and a lack of Foreign Direct Investment. There is the added complication of local ownership restrictions, and government regulations simply make starting a business tougher than it needs to be.

'We do not have any tradition of venture capital in this part of the world; Arab businesses prefer hard assets, such as real estate and involvement in big government contracts. The region's energy resources are a double-edged sword; on the one hand they give the region the revenues it badly needs for development and at the same time they give us a false sense of security, thus discouraging the search for other sources of income.'

Ghandour, who developed Aramex International over 23 years to see it become the first company from the Arab world to go public on the NASDAQ stock exchange, says more could be done to stop, what he terms, an Arab entrepreneurial brain drain.