Page 10 - Issue-16

ELITE ISSUE 16, FEBRUARY 2020 PAGE 9

FEPS BUSINESS INCUBATOR FOUNDER & CEO DR

HEBA ZAKI SHARES HER INSIGHTS WITH ELITE
THE FUTURE OF

ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

BETWEEN DEVELOPMENTAL

LEAPS AND FAKE PROJECTS

TRANSLATED TO ENGLISH BY : JASMINE NABIL

With an increasing importance being put on entrepre neurship as one
of the locomotives of growth and a core engine of s ustainable
development; increasing importance is also put on t he assessment of
the current entrepreneurial environment and its out puts that can
stimulate innovative start-ups. However, not all pr ojects possess the
necessary features for growth and sustainability.
The experiences of numerous rising economies; in So uth-East Asia,
Latin America and Eastern Europe, has proventhat su pporting the
entrepreneurial environment and encouraging innovat ive start-ups,
that can come up with suitable remedies for their e conomic and
social problems,has enabled them to overcome many o f the structural
problems plaguing their economies. Such problems va ried between
increasing unemployment rates, decelerating rates o f economic
growth, scarcity of recourses when compared to the population
growth rates, and finally increasing poverty rates.

Comprehensive plans have been adopted by these coun tries to
support the entrepreneurial environment. Most impor tantly, micro
financing of start-ups through a system of financia l institutions
specialised in small and micro enterprises. Such pl ans took into
consideration the special nature of these projects especially when it

comes to the lack of prior experiences as well as t heir small capital
size. This nature can accordingly decrease the appe al of the projects
in the eyes of large financial institutions and Com mercial and
investment banks. The plans also included the creat ion of advisory
bodies to provide technical and consultative servic es to the
enterprises to help them develop their business mod els and ensure
their market continuity. All this went side by side with the
introduction of laws that facilitate the establishm ent of small and
micro enterprises as well as providing financial, i nsurance and tax
incentives. In order to guarantee their sustainabil ity, the plans
tackled the development of the technological enviro nment and the
digitisation of the projects.

ELITE ISSUE 16, FEBRUARY 2020 PAGE 10