Starting and growing a business with family members can be a great yet challenging experience. One can benefit from the close relationships and trust between family members, relying on them during hard times. But it can sometimes be difficult to preserve a harmonious relationship. This is something Farida El Agamy, general manager of the Dubai-based knowledge resource and networking hub for Arab family-owned business, Tharawat Family Business Forum, knows all too well. “That’s why the topic of family businesses is definitely a very interesting and complex one,” she says. “I’ve discovered it to be very honest. I didn’t know much about it, but I discovered my family business at the same time as I discovered the topic,” she adds as sits in her office in Dubai Media City. “In a region like the Arab world, where there is an increasingly important need for sustainable job creation and economic stability, family-owned businesses play a crucial role. “We are looking at Arab family businesses who have headquarters in North Africa, the Levant and the Gulf. It’s very important to us that they have a vested interest in supporting the regional economy,” says El Agamy about the association’s mission.
Born to a Dutch mother and an Egyptian father and raised in Switzerland, the student El Agamy obtained the highest law degrees in Switzerland and the UK before working in Swiss government agencies, law firms as well as at the UN in Geneva. However, her multinational upbringing shaped her global understanding so strongly that she has eventually embarked on the path of social entrepreneurship, determined to bring value to Arab family businesses. The Tharawat Family Business Forum was founded in 2006 by a number of major Middle Eastern family businesses and her father, Dr. Hischam El Agamy, who is now Tharawat’s executive director. The Forum was launched with the aim of creating a strong community of committed family businesses throughout the region. Dr El Agamy’s own story is noteworthy. As an 18-year old Egyptian landing in Switzerland to study a masters and doctorate degrees in applied geophysics, he went on to start many entrepreneurial ventures and was consequently apppointed executive director of the Switzerland-based business school IMD. By launching the Forum in Dubai, he wanted to create an Arab family business network and further the interests of these businesses by offering them education opportunities, research insights and a peer networking platform. “It’s really from family businesses, and supported by them to serve the family business community of the region,” his daughter explains.She adds: “Throughout the recent years of global economic downturn, we have been reminded over and over again that companies that often manage to sustain throughout crises and times of hardship are family-owned. “There are many ways to explain this phenomenon, but one element certainly is that business owning families have the capacity to stick together in tough times and pull through, where other companies might not.”
Born to a Dutch mother and an Egyptian father and raised in Switzerland, the student El Agamy obtained the highest law degrees in Switzerland and the UK before working in Swiss government agencies, law firms as well as at the UN in Geneva. However, her multinational upbringing shaped her global understanding so strongly that she has eventually embarked on the path of social entrepreneurship, determined to bring value to Arab family businesses. The Tharawat Family Business Forum was founded in 2006 by a number of major Middle Eastern family businesses and her father, Dr. Hischam El Agamy, who is now Tharawat’s executive director. The Forum was launched with the aim of creating a strong community of committed family businesses throughout the region. Dr El Agamy’s own story is noteworthy. As an 18-year old Egyptian landing in Switzerland to study a masters and doctorate degrees in applied geophysics, he went on to start many entrepreneurial ventures and was consequently apppointed executive director of the Switzerland-based business school IMD. By launching the Forum in Dubai, he wanted to create an Arab family business network and further the interests of these businesses by offering them education opportunities, research insights and a peer networking platform. “It’s really from family businesses, and supported by them to serve the family business community of the region,” his daughter explains.She adds: “Throughout the recent years of global economic downturn, we have been reminded over and over again that companies that often manage to sustain throughout crises and times of hardship are family-owned. “There are many ways to explain this phenomenon, but one element certainly is that business owning families have the capacity to stick together in tough times and pull through, where other companies might not.”
