Ramallah, 8/16/2017: The Country Director of the Korean International Cooperation Agency in Palestine, Mr. Jeongshin Cho and The Director General of Taawon Dr. Tafeeda Jarbawi, signed today a matching grant agreement with USD 1.4 Million to support growth-oriented entrepreneurs and startups in Palestine through securing diaspora creative early-stage financing and mentorship (DAIMN).
This agreement fulfils both KOICA Palestine Startup Support (PASS Program) a holistic program aimed at supporting innovation and entrepreneurship in Palestine and Taawon Youth Empowerment Services (YES Program) to enhance the economic development in Palestine.
The program will include a range of activities starting with the design of an interactive platform for networking of Diaspora investors and mentors who are interested in supporting and investing in entrepreneurial projects. In addition, the program will include the implementation of several local and international activities that reduce the gap between the entrepreneurs and investors, as well as to provide technical, legal and administrative support for entrepreneur projects to become profitable business portfolios. The program also focuses on creating a community of investors and supervisors from the diaspora that will become available later, to all the entrepreneurs in the Palestinian society.
This project is an opportunity for hundreds of entrepreneurs who have been previously supported by Taawon through the start-up projects that were established in the West Bank, including Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip over the past years. This project will continue to support these entrepreneurs by providing them with advanced technical support and investment opportunities. The project will also provide experts and businessmen in the Diaspora with the opportunity to learn about entrepreneurship in Palestine and the most successful entrepreneurial projects.
Mr. Jeongshin Cho explained the value of this agreement in leveraging the well-established Palestinian diaspora to support startups and entrepreneurship in Palestine. Mr. Cho expressed his ambitions that this agreement will create an effective vehicle to recruit diaspora expertise and investments.
Dr. Jarbawi, stressed that: the signing of the DAIMN project agreement marks a major milestone in KOICA- Taawon cooperation in promoting the development of economy startups in Palestine. She added that KOICA and Taawon will continue to work hand-in-hand to address the development challenges in Palestine, particularly the youth employment challenge.
About KOICA
The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) was established as a government-funded agency dedicated to providing grant aid programs of the Korean government in April 1991. KOICA has been cooperating with Palestine more than 20 years sharing Korea's development experience and implementing various cooperation projects in West Bank and Gaza. As Korea experienced the "Miracle of Han-River," KOICA seeks to make a contribution for Palestine's own miracle.
About Taawon
Taawon is a leading Palestinian non-profit organization, working in Palestine and in Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. Taawon, in Arabic, means ‘working together to do good’, a philosophy which lies at the core of the organization’s mission and governs our everyday developmental operations. Since its establishment in 1983, Taawon invested in seven major programs: education, community development, youth and women empowerment, orphan support, culture, restoration of ancient cities, and its flagship project The Palestinian Museum.
For more information, visit www.taawon.org