Jordanian’s ‘Diamond Hands’ grabs silver in Germany entrepreneurship competition

AMMAN — Jordanian Entrepreneur Majdi Suleiman received the silver medal after winning the "People's Choice Award" in the "Youth Citizen Entrepreneurship Competition 2019" in Germany.

The competition was supported by Stiftung Entrepreneurship, University for Peace (UPEACE) and the International Labour Organisations' programme Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB), Suleiman told The Jordan Times over the phone on Wednesday.

The competition is held annually in Berlin to enable entrepreneurs to bring innovative solutions to the world, and this year, it witnessed the participation of 651 contestants from around the world, he added.

The projects that Suleiman and the participants presented aimed to have a social impact and support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through resolving social, economic, environmental and health challenges. 

Suleiman's Diamond Hands is a smart mobile application that connects women experienced in handicrafts and home projects with housewives, centre owners and civil institutions. 

"The project supports women becoming active members of society who help their communities grow through their leadership, entrepreneurial and handicraft skills," Suleiman said, noting that the project boosts women's economic status and directly impacts their financial independence. 

The project not only allows women to be part of the labour workforce, but also employs their skills to train more women through various programmes implemented in cooperation with partners and concerned entities, serving as a network that connects people together to exchange expertise. 

On a local level, Suleiman's project was also nominated among six projects out of 1,700 ideas presented to the Youth Pitches Initiative, which is organised by the Arab Youth Centre in the UAE in cooperation with the Crown Prince Foundation. 

The initiative, in its first round, focused on projects that boost women's role in the economy, Suleiman noted.

Suleiman obtained a Bachelor of Finance and Banking from the Hashemite University in 2014 and obtained an MBA in Business Administration at the University of Sunderland in the UK in 2017, with a focus on enterprises and innovation.