Family Business in the Arab World Conference to be held at AUS

Industry experts, international academics, regional thought leaders and prominent names in family business will feature at the Family Business in the Arab World Conference to be held at American University of Sharjah (AUS), March 7—8, 2018. As the first event of its kind in the region, the conference is being held in collaboration with the Tharawat Family Business Forum and the Sharjah Enterpreneurship Center–Sheraa.

The two-day event will take a look at the phenomenon of family businesses in the Arab world and create a collective experience and exchange thoughts on the future of family businesses. The conference also aims to provide a unique opportunity for family firms to interact and connect with leading researchers and academics discussing family business in the region. The two-day Conference will provide family businesses with a platform to learn from peers and experienced business leaders, as well as to explore with them the challenges of development, growth and innovation.

Entitled “Contextualising Family Business in the Arab World,” the first day of the conference will focus on an exchange of research between leading academics from around the world. For the first time in the Middle East, more than 30 researchers hailing from 17 countries will gather to discuss this key topic for the region. The following day – Business Families Day – will see members of prominent business families address topics such as “Entrepreneurial Spirit in Family Firms”, “Disruption and Innovation in Traditional Industries”, and “Managing Today’s Family Business Ecosystem”.

Commenting on the event, Dr. Rodrigo Basco, Associate Professor of Management, and Sheikh Saoud bin Khalid bin Khalid Al-Qassimi Chair in Family Business at AUS, and one of the organizers of the conference, said:

“We are very pleased to be holding this conference along with the Tharawat Family Business Forum and Sheraa. As one of the first events of its kind in the region, we are looking forward to hearing the views of experts on the wide range of challenges that confront family businesses in the region today.”

As Farida El Agamy, General Manager of the Tharawat Family Business Forum pointed out:

“We are delighted to be able to jointly organise this conference with such great partners as AUS and Sheraa, with whom we share the common purpose to host a regionally unique conference, which will bring together academics and family business leaders to gather expertise and research outcomes of unique value for our region”.