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AMMAN — A group of Jordanian professionals living abroad, including Silicon Valley executives, held their first meeting this week in Sunnyvale, California, as part of the Jordanian Diaspora Network, in a bid to support entrepreneurship and market access for their compatriots in Jordan.
The USAID-supported network, with its online portal Connect.jo, enables Jordan-based professionals to collaborate with their peers abroad to share expertise and explore new market opportunities, according to a statement from the US agency.
The initial focus is on ICT, clean technology and healthcare, and life sciences, the statement said, and Jordanian students in these fields can also find scholarships and internship opportunities.
“We’ve all heard about ‘brain drain’, highly qualified professionals leaving their home countries to pursue work and advancement abroad,” the statement quoted Niels Nielsen, an adviser to the USAID Jordan Competitiveness Programme, as saying.
“The Jordanian Diaspora Network is about ‘brain gain’, leveraging a talented and resourceful community of professionals abroad to create new business opportunities for their fellow Jordanians.”
According to the International Diaspora Engagement Alliance, a joint initiative of the US State Department and USAID, more than 700,000 Jordanians live abroad.
“By keeping these individuals engaged in Jordan’s economy, the Jordan Diaspora Network aims to retain their skills and knowledge in order to spur investment and growth,” the statement said.
Zaid Ayoub, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur from Jordan who helped form the network, said the country needs more than “bricks and mortar” development.
“Like many developing countries, what Jordan needs is a vibrant knowledge economy — a foundation for increasing investment, creating jobs and driving exports,” Ayoub noted.
“And the heart of any knowledge economy is, of course, a skilled and entrepreneurial workforce.”
The USAID Jordan Competitiveness Programme has “forged partnerships between Jordanian businesses and leading global firms to help bolster local talent, including through USAID-funded certification courses”.
