Middle East

The Arab Spring saw a wave of revolution launched by educated young professionals who are unemployed and underemployed. A year later, their demands are still simmering: According to the World Bank, economic growth will have to accelerate dramatically to bridge the demand for jobs across the Middle East. This requires doubling the annual net growth rate of job creation, increasing labor force participation and insuring growth reaches more labor-intensive industries even as technology is adopted to increase productivity. Unless governments can provide a vision and summon the resources to create broader opportunity, the unrest is likely to continue. This panel will gather local and international entrepreneurs, multinational executives and investors for a practical discussion on mobilizing education, training and entrepreneurial finance platforms to support large-scale business formation and job creation across the Middle East.

Israel's economic growth has been inadequate and shared unequally. Social cohesion is a key aspect of Israel's national security, yet charitable giving has fallen off and the new government faces growing deficits with insufficient resources to bridge dangerous social and economic gaps. To face these challenges, Israel needs a novel, flexible and efficient system to channel capital into projects with social and regional impact. In this roundtable, we will explore the use of charitable and government funds leveraged by private capital through matching and structured finance to solve pressing social, community and environmental challenges. The focus will be creating double bottom line returns via social investment funds and intermediaries and social impact bonds.

Despite appearances, the economic story in the Middle East is more than a grouping of petrostates within a miasma of debt, slow growth, and explosive politics. Conditions that could lead to take-off are gathering: Education and healthcare are reaching more people and the region's demographics are favorable. Latent consumer demand is huge, and the infrastructure base, including Internet penetration, is expanding. Yet the Eastern Mediterranean, North Africa and the energy-producing states are almost economies unto themselves. Which areas will develop most swiftly? Can cultural offerings, services, and manufactured goods find a place in world markets along with resource exports? Our panel will assess the strengths of the regions that make up MENA and their potential for integration with the global economy.

Amid the chaotic politics and widespread privation in the Arab world, a passionate cohort of entrepreneurs is striving to bring jobs, diversified economies and a culture of enterprise to the region. Christopher Schroeder spotlights their aspirations and achievements in "Startup Rising: The Entrepreneurial Revolution Remaking the Middle East." Himself an entrepreneur, financier and member of the tech cognoscenti, Schroeder sees much cause for optimism as home-grown talent cross-pollinates with the venture investors and leading global technology firms that have made sizable commitments there, including Google, Cisco Systems and LinkedIn. At this Milken Institute Forum, the author will describe the entrepreneurial landscape in a range of Middle East nations. He'll explain how these intrepid and inventive trailblazers are overcoming the barriers they face, and how their efforts could transform the region's place in the world. Expert observers have lauded Schroeder's book for "shattering our stereotypes of the Middle East" and "brilliantly demonstrating that peace and prosperity is attainable for the region." Jonathan Spalter, chairman of Mobile Future, will moderate.

Speakers: Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Fellow, Belfer Center for the Future of Diplomacy, Harvard Kennedy School; Founder, AHA Foundation Darin Johnson, Chief of Staff, Office of Middle East Transitions, U.S. Department of State Ahmed Maher, Founder and General Coordinator, Egypt's April 6 Youth Movement William McCants, Research Scientist, Strategic Studies, Center for Naval Analyses Moderator: Karen Elliott House, Former Publisher, The Wall Street Journal; Author, "On Saudi Arabia". Two years ago, the front-page scenes from the Arab world illustrated aspirations for democracy and collective dignity. Now they are filled with turmoil and violence. Islam has claimed vast political terrain and jihadist extremism has emerged as a potent force in Syria and elsewhere, making would-be Western allies hesitant to support change. All the while, economies in the region continue to deteriorate amid the instability. Can the passions driving politics be channeled into dialogue and peaceful transition? Will women's rights be respected and their roles elevated, or will new theocracies dash hopes for equality? Will the Saudi monarchy, a linchpin in the geopolitics of energy and a close U.S. ally, emerge unscathed when it's all over? The experts on this panel will examine the clashing forces and potential outcomes in a region in which we all have a stake.

Speaker: Najib Ghadbian, Special Representative to the United States, National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces Interviewer: Skip Rimer, Executive Director, Programs and Communications, Milken Institute. As a brutal civil war continues in Syria, Najib Ghadbian is waging a peaceful battle to make Americans understand what is at stake. The University of Arkansas professor, now the Syrian opposition's top representative in this country, will discuss prospects for ending the violence and inaugurating a democratic era in his homeland. Iran is an ally of the dictatorship - could regime change also change the geopolitics of the region? In the end, will the democratic forces Ghadbian represents be strong enough to marginalize the Islamic extremists who are also in the fight? Is there a plan for economic development or guarantees of women's rights?

Speakers: Neveen El-Tahri, Chairperson and Managing Director, Delta Shield for Investments Huseyin Gun, Managing Director, Avicenna Capital Lord Mark Malloch-Brown, Regional Chairman, FTI Consulting Bashar Masri, Chairman, Massar International Chemi Peres, Managing General Partner and Co-Founder, Pitango Venture Capital Moderator: Glenn Yago, Senior Director, Israel Center; Senior Research Fellow; and Founder, Financial Innovations Labs, Milken Institute. Rapid economic deterioration combined with the high expectations for a political transition to democracy have given rise to an enormous urgency to create jobs across the Middle East and North Africa. Nearly half of young adults are unemployed, and that doesn't account for the ranks of the underemployed. When the Arab Spring started in 2011, the Tunisian and Egyptian economies shrank while unemployment soared. Egypt's foreign investment inflows have dried up, its budget deficit has reached 10 percent of GDP and foreign exchange reserves have plummeted. According to the World Bank, MENA's regional economic growth must accelerate to at least 6 percent this decade - above the 4.8 percent achieved in the 2000s - to bridge the demand for jobs. Alleviating this potentially explosive situation hinges on developing a culture of economic growth that will generate new enterprises and job opportunities. What can be done to accelerate economic growth, maximize stability and enable broader economic and political participation? What legal and regulatory frameworks are needed? Can public-private partnerships for large-scale infrastructure projects be established? This panel will address how an entrepreneurial revolution based on job creation, trade and commerce can support the political transitions under way.