UPDATE: The visit was a huge success on both sides. The symmetry was evident in comments to the Boston Globe, which published a nice piece about the visit written by Hiawatha Bray. Visiting CEO Murad Tahboub (Asal) said, “[t]here is usually a shortage of software developers in the US, and they are looking for destinations outside the US’’ such as India..[and] [w]e believe we can also be one of those destinations.’’
And Governor Patrick was quoted saying to the Palestinian CEOs, “[y]ou honor us with your presence…you will delight us with your investment.’’
“Palestine’s ICT sector is strong, dynamic, and poised to grow exponentially over the next decade.” Not a sentence you expected? Maybe you have not been on the website recently of the Palestinian IT Association!
The West Bank may not be the next Kendall Square or Silicon Valley, but a delegation of visiting IT entrepreneurs from the Ramallah are in Boston and Cambridge this week – and northern California next week – to deliver a message that they are open for business.
Still surprised?
Here’s how the Boston area visit came about: Several PBLN members joined a delegation led by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick on an economic development mission to Israel in March of 2011. The same day that the US Consular staff in Jerusalem urged our business delegates to look at and consider investing in Palestinian companies, we had a chance to meet with a group of Palestinian IT CEOs and software development entrepreneurs. We heard about the remarkable growth of their sector and their desire to more deeply engage in US markets. We urged them to come to Massachusetts to look for partners, markets, investment opportunities…and this week they will be here!
Some “fast facts” from the Palestinian IT Association about their sector:
• 300 ICT companies in Palestine
• 50% provide software development, consulting an online services
• 90% of Palestinian households have mobile phone service
• Highest DSL subscription rate as % of population across emerging mkts
• 3,500 directly employed in ICT sector; 10,000 in ICT-related jobs
• 2,200 annual graduates of ICT-related studies
Some highlights of the Massachusetts visit:
- Visits to MIT and Harvard Business School to meet with entrepreneurs, students, faculty and more
- Visits and roundtable discussions at the Cambridge office of Google, at the Cambridge Innovation Center, at Mass Challenge
- Group and individual meetings with tech companies all over the area to talk business.
A highlight will be a roundtable PBLN is organizing with entrepreneur-turned-VC Jeffrey Bussgang (also a Vice-Chair of PBLN) and some local entrepreneurs about our business climate and how these companies might consider approaching partnerships here. And the rumor is there may be a visit by a certain Chief Executive of the Commonwealth whose vision of the mission to Israel set all of this in motion…
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