Wi-LAN co-founder Hatem Zaghloul said the comparison between entrepreneurship in Egypt and Israel is an unfair comparison. Israeli companies have a web of strong public relations that enable them to reach their counterparts in Europe and the US easily. This helps them open markets and conduct agreements with significant investors.
However, he also said that Egypt is still the queen of the communications market, proven by the fact that, between 1990 and 2000, all those who took office as head of the communication department in Canadian universities were Egyptian.
CEO and Co-Founder of Drbridge Amir Barsoum believes Israel has a strong entrepreneurship environment, away from their nationalities. He used the example of the establishment of a giant company operating in the field of communications like Qualcomm, one of the largest communication technology companies that gained its position depending on Israeli experienced workers.
Supporting Barsoum’s opinion, founder of KI Angel fund Khaled Ismail believes that Qualcomm is a US industry with an Israeli background. However, Ismail views the Israeli experience with entrepreneurship having a special nature. Israel was aware for the field of entrepreneurship long before Egypt and Arab countries, which made it exceed the Egyptian market in this field.
Israel also provides a high level education system; its youths graduate from the high school and join the Israeli army to learn technology only, which is equivalent to a college graduate in Egypt.
Barsoum said over 70% of Israeli companies in the field of communications have deep connections and relations with their US counterparts.
