PRINCE Mohammad Bin Salman College (MBSC) of Business and Entrepreneurship has signed an official agreement with the Ministry of Economy of the United Arab Emirates, by which the college will become an academic partner of the AIM Startup Forum.

The event is an initiative by the Emirati ministry under the umbrella of the Annual Investment Meeting, which is held in Dubai with the aim of providing a strategic platform for startups to connect with funders and investors from around the world. The forum will take place in Dubai from April 9 to 12.

The agreement was signed by Dr. Nabeel Koshak, dean of MBSC, and Abdullah Bin Ahmad Al-Saleh, undersecretary of foreign trade and industry at the Ministry of Economy in the UAE and chairman of the organizing committee of the Annual Investment Meeting.

Koshak expressed his pride to be cooperating with the Emirati ministry on the forum in order to support the joint efforts of both the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to strengthen the bridge of cooperation.

The forum also aims to draw up a general framework that can harness the features of the entrepreneurial ecosystems and a wide array of influencers and investors in both countries, and in turn adding more value to both global entrepreneurial systems as well as project owners seeking investment and partnership opportunities.

“Today’s strategic agreement is in line with our direction toward establishing a new generation of influential leaders in the Kingdom by preparing Saudi competencies on a scientific level, in addition to enabling them to successfully and practically establish their own projects, either individually or through specialized business incubators, alongside funding programs in cooperation with financial Saudi institutions,” Koshak said.

The AIM Startup initiative focuses on adopting technologies for sustainable development and overall growth. Considered a center for entrepreneurship and prosperity for startups in the Arab world, the event comes as recognition by both countries of the vital roles played by successful startups as growth and employment catalysts, which is considered one of the main objectives the forum aspires to achieve.

“It is part of our joint effort to maximize the number of Arab entrepreneurs who will provide job opportunities and actively contribute to raising the employment rate in the Gulf countries specifically, and the Middle East and North Africa region generally,” Koshak added.

The choice of MBSC as the academic partner of the AIM Startup Forum is based on its adoption of a culture aiming to reflect world-class academic practices used by premium higher education institutes around the world, with a focus on respecting different opinions, professionalism, integrity, and a continual commitment to achieving excellence.

The upcoming forum is expected to gather 200 promising startups under one roof in order for them to meet investors and officials, in addition to representatives from major corporations alongside executives of small- and medium-sized companies. This will give leading project and idea owners the opportunity to pitch their initiatives in front of an audience of more than 20,000 experts from all around the world.

Before the forum takes place next year, MBSC will host competitions for startups (Middle East Roadshow & Pitch Competitions), in addition to workshops related to the forum, all occurring throughout November at its headquarters in King Abdullah Economic City.

According to the 2016 State of Digital Investment report, the number of startups in the Arab world registered a significant increase during the early 2000s as a direct result of the activation of more than 150 initiatives, which was enabled by business incubators and non-profit organizations capable of providing support services for ambitious entrepreneurs. The lion’s share went to the tech sector, registering more than 450 investment deals in the region worth $750 million between 2013 and 2015.

The UAE hosts a large number of startup companies in the Middle East and North Africa, with an annual investment of $1 billion (AED3.67 billion).

MBSC is the first private institute of higher education in Saudi Arabia to focus on entrepreneurial education, offering MBA programs to both male and female students. Located at King Abdullah Economic City, the college was established through an international partnership between Emaar, The Economic City, Babson Global, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Babson College, US; Lockheed Martin under the umbrella of the Economic Offset Program in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the MISK Foundation.