Speech of Mr. Maroun Chammas, Chairman of the Berytech Fund on the occasion of a Partnership for Lebanon Event on Monday November 10, 2008 at 5:30 PM in BIEL.

Ms. Tae Yoo, Ms. Leila Ibrahim, Distinguished Guests,Friends from the media,Colleagues,Ladies and Gentlemen

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak here tonight!

First and foremost, I would like to thank the Partnership for Lebanon for its commitment to the economic well-being of Lebanon since 2006 and for supporting the ICT sector a key industry, crucial to the revival of the country and its economy. The enhancement of the ICT infrastructure as well as job creation through the enablement of the SME sector -among other areas of interest- are issues dear to Berytech as well.

For those of you who don’t know it, Berytech is Lebanon’s pioneering incubation and business development center that was created by a private initiative of the St Joseph University. Since 2002, Berytech has actively promoted, created and developed more than 70 start-ups and assisted in creating over 250 jobs. We have also supported more then 100 medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through training, coaching and hosting. This led us to expand from one center to two and to receive the recognition of the European Union by generous technical and financial contributions. Berytech is also the proud host and the latest member of the Beirut IX, the first internet exchange point in Lebanon and the second in the Middle East. The IX was created thanks to the generous donation and support of Cisco on behalf of the Partnership for Lebanon.

Knowing that access to funding is undoubtedly one of the most intricate barriers for SME growth and job creation potential, we recently launched the Berytech Fund, a $6M startup fund, to complement our offering to startups and SMEs with equity financing.

Thanks to the commitment of Cisco and Intel to the Fund, through a combined investment of $1M, we have been able to address a gap in financing for a bracket of SMEs which are generally not served by formal venture capital funds. The money invested will also help companies to leverage their fresh capital by additional bank borrowings, hence the multiplayer effect of the fund.

Berytech Fund focuses on technology companies in Lebanon with proven commercial viability, providing both the equity capital and guidance they need to succeed. Intel Capital and Cisco have expressed their intention to provide further and parallel funding in some of the portfolio companies and the Fund will be calling on their international network to pull in the necessary expertise and provide market outreach.

By sustaining innovation and technology in their earliest form, we have, with the support of Partnership for Lebanon, a chance to foster a vibrant ICT sector, one that is at par with global markets.The fund will invest in about 10 companies and we expect to generate up to 100 new jobs in the 4 coming years; This, combined with international market access, will put Lebanese creative industries on the world map.Another key ingredient for the success of the companies is to unleash the power of the internet which would jumpstart the creative powers of the Lebanese entrepreneur: we have the know-how and the skills, we have the talent, and we have the potential for market outreach. We need the tools to get the information there and get it faster. Broadband Internet is at the core of today’s communication infrastructure. Berytech is a firm and committed supporter of the broadband now initiative. Even if each of us approaches the Internet from different legal, cultural or historic settings, we as community members have the responsibility to preserve the vibrant, dynamic and borderless nature of the Internet but also to identify and eliminate barriers to the deployment of new technologies in Lebanon.

The presence, support, involvement and commitment of a strategic partner such as Partnership for Lebanon, will help bring about this information revolution.

And for this we thank you.