Young Saudis cherish Obama’s Summit on Entrepreneurship

“The experience was a great chance for us, being the youngest delegation,” said Norah Al-Magraby, a nursing student at Jeddah’s Dar Al-Hekma College and one of the six Saudis who attended the summit.
“We had the chance to meet experienced and successful people who were willing to share their knowledge with us and give advice to help young entrepreneurs,” she added.
 Obama announced that Washington would host the summit in his celebrated “New Beginning” speech in Cairo in June 2009.
“The program included an opening reception followed by two days of panel discussions and speeches,” said another attendee, Mariah Mahdaly, a graphics design student at Dar Al-Hekma College. “After the two days, a set of events, luncheons and receptions were organized by different hosts such as the Brookings Institute, the World Bank and the Aspen Foundation,” she added.
Supplementary events were held before and after the actual summit, which helped young delegates build contacts and meet CEOs, board members from top ranking universities in the US, major companies and growing businesses.
“Our participation in this summit taught us that no matter how difficult it is to overcome the obstacles you are facing, with determination and good planning you will make it work one day,” said Mona Al-Amer, a management information system student at Dar Al-Hekma College.
“Looking back at the experience now, being around all of those successful, inspiring, entrepreneurs from 200 different countries and recognizing the passion and drive each one has was incredibly inspirational,” said Mahdaly.
“The most important thing that I learned was to give in order to get. All these successful people taught me that persistence and determination will get you wherever you want,” said Lamees Al-Mufti, an information management systems student at Dar Al-Hekma College.
Around 200 delegates from Muslim-majority countries and 70 from the US attended the summit. Speaking on Monday night, President Obama said delegates came together at the Summit because of what they share in common:
“A belief that we are all bound together by certain common aspirations to live with dignity, to get an education, to live healthy lives and maybe to start a business, without having to pay a bribe to anybody. To speak freely and have a say in how we are governed. To live in peace and security and to give our children a better future.”