Tech experts from Israel and UAE join forces to prepare the leaders of tomorrow

Watergen’s VP of Mobility Shadie Bisharat and Dubai-based entrepreneur Raza Jafar joined Calcalist this week to speak about building the relationship between Israel and the United Arab Emirates. Talking to Yarden Rozanski as part of Calcalist and Bank Leumi’s "Economic Opportunities in the UAE" online conference, the two shared their insights about how leaders should make efforts to be socially responsible - not just economically responsible - when conducting business.

“All businesses lead to good to humanity as long as we are making sure we are not being selfish,” explained Jafar. “Opportunities in technology, innovation, high tech, and water tech - there is a lot of opportunity for both countries and the regions to benefit from one another.”

Jafar spoke to Calcalist about what drew him to Dubai as a place of business and community. Originally from Pakistan, he says he “(chooses) to live here because it is convenient to do business and gives a lot of opportunity to everyone.”

Bisharat praised the recent normalization between the two regions as the starting point to help bring peace to the region, hopefully expanding to the wider world. “Both countries want to be unique, both countries want to challenge the status quo, both countries want to excel in everything they do and both countries have a great entrepreneurial spirit.”

Bisharat and Jafar only met a few weeks ago, but they shared the (virtual) stage of Calcalist’s UAE Conference to discuss the Social Capital Club and the Israel Leadership Platform (ILP). The forum is home to more than 500 influencers, motivators, CEOs, and executives who share common values of leadership development, sustainability, entrepreneurship development for the leaders of tomorrow in the region.

Watch their entire interview about the program above.