Ramallah, Palestine – Union Construction and Investment CEO and Vice chairman, Khaled Sabawi, delivered a speech as the keynote speaker at a conference held at the Faculty of Business and Economics of Birzeit University, a leading academic Palestinian institution located north of Ramallah. The conference, titled “Entrepreneurship in Occupied Palestine: Policies and Prospects,” was held on April 11, 2018.

Invited to talk about his personal experience in entrepreneurship, Sabawi spoke about the dispossession of his family’s land in Palestine before 1948 and how the establishment of Israel turned his family into refugees. He talked about how this experience of exile and the fact that Palestinian land continues to be confiscated today were the main factors behind the founding of TABO, a project dedicated to protecting Palestinian land by creating title deeds. Sabawi then communicated how TABO was established, the main challenges it has faced and the overall goals of the project.

UCI’s CEO set the tone of the conference by connecting how entrepreneurship in Palestine can be used to make a positive impact. Dr. Grace Khoury, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics at Birzeit University, said Sabawi’s speech was “inspiring for other young Palestinian social entrepreneurs who are innovative and determined to find solutions to social, economic and environmental problems despite all the challenges they face in the Palestinian context.”

Birzeit University strives to strengthen the components of national sustainable development and localize entrepreneurship and innovation on all levels, as well as maintain leadership in all facets so as to fulfill its duty as a place where innovation and entrepreneurship flourish. President of Birzeit University, Dr. Abdullatif Abuhijleh, said that the conference is part of the university’s responsibility to support Palestinian liberation from the “last occupation in the modern human history.”

The Conference brought together trade and industry experts, young and experienced entrepreneurs, business and economics professors, and academics who explored the realities, challenges, and opportunities of entrepreneurship in the occupied Palestinian territories.