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NYU Abu Dhabi and Tharawat Family Business Forum Sign a Memorandum of Understanding

Robert Young, Dean of Arts and Humanities from NYUAD and Mr. Essa Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Tharawat Family Business Forum signed an MoU that provides a formal framework for an interdisciplinary project, which will bring together scholars from the Humanities and Social Sciences, will entail the compilation, documentation and analysis of the history of selected regional family businesses with the intention to better understand past challenges and decision-making, as well as commercial legacies.

Press Release

The agreement facilitates collaborative examination and documentation of the legacy of family businesses in the MENA region

Tharawat Family Business Forum and NYU Abu Dhabi (NYUAD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on a pilot project about Family Business Histories and their impact on economic growth and social change in the MENA region.

Mr. Essa Al Ghurair, Chairman of the Tharawat Family Business Forum and Robert Young, Dean of Arts and Humanities from NYUAD signed the MoU in the presence of several representatives from both organizations, as well as special guests.

The MoU provides a formal framework for the project that Tharawat and NYUAD will collectively undertake. The interdisciplinary project, which will bring together scholars from the Humanities and Social Sciences, will entail the compilation, documentation and analysis of the history of selected regional family businesses with the intention to better understand past challenges and decision-making, as well as commercial legacies. This understanding will not only offer significant insights into historical transformations of business cultures and socio-economic environments in the MENA region but also help family businesses address current and future challenges.

Mr. Essa Al Ghurair from the Tharawat Family Business Forum said: “In the Middle East and North Africa, we estimate that over 80% of businesses are family-owned and run. This shows us that the economic impact of such companies is essential to the growth and prosperity of our region. The collaboration with NYUAD will allow us to delve deeper into understanding the legacies of family-owned enterprises in our region and draw lessons for our future.”

Robert Young, Dean of Arts and Humanities from NYUAD, said: “We are very pleased indeed to be signing this MoU with the Tharawat Family Business Forum. Our Family Business history project highlights the historical significance of the region as a cultural, political, but also economic crossroads and shows how family business are part of the regional heritage. Our cooperation with Tharawat offers a prism through which we can rediscover the challenges of the past and the tremendous developments both in the UAE and beyond.”

The Tharawat Family Business Forum was founded in 2006 and is a members association that empowers the sustainability, innovation and growth of family businesses across Middle East and North Africa. The association was founded by 15 leading family-owned companies from all over the Middle East with a vision for a strong peer community where families could share their experiences and learn from each other. Today, 10 years later, Tharawat has grown into a key platform for education, innovation, and opportunity for its community.

 

About NYU Abu Dhabi

NYU Abu Dhabi is the first comprehensive liberal arts and research campus in the Middle East to be operated abroad by a major American research university. NYU Abu Dhabi has integrated a highly selective undergraduate curriculum across the disciplines with a world center for advanced research and scholarship. The university enables its students in the sciences, engineering, social sciences, humanities, and arts to succeed in an increasingly interdependent world and advance cooperation and progress on humanity’s shared challenges. NYU Abu Dhabi’s high-achieving students have come from over 115 countries and speak over 115 languages. Together, NYU's campuses in New York, Abu Dhabi, and Shanghai form the backbone of a unique global university, giving faculty and students opportunities to experience varied learning environments and immersion in other cultures at one or more of the numerous study-abroad sites NYU maintains on six continents.