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Global Intrapreneurship Forum (GIFOURM) 2012 set for May 27 - 28 in the Kingdom of Bahrain

First global gathering dedicated to supporting growth of intrapreneurship within regional and international companies and for corporate entrepreneurs
Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain - 19 February, 2012 - The Firm (TF), an international private members club and marketplace for business development and intrapreneurship, today announced that the Global Intrapreneurship Forum™ (GIFORUM) 2012 is set to take place in the Kingdom of Bahrain on May 27-28 at the Gulf Hotel. GIFORUM 2012 will be the first global conference of its kind dedicated to supporting the growth and development of intrapreneurship within corporations and SMEs, and for corporate entrepreneurs from the MENA region and their counterparts around the world.

The Global Intrapreneurship Forum™2012 will focus on building further awareness of the concept of intrapreneurship. In essence, intrapreneurs are those individuals within large corporations or SMEs who have a deep knowledge and insights of business gaps and opportunities in their market and industries but who lack the business skills, acumen and network to effectively transform new ideas into viable commercial ventures for their companies or themselves. GIFORUM 2012 also aims to draw attention to the importance of intrapreneurship and the role it plays in driving economic growth and diversification both within companies and economies overall.

The forum is expected to attract more than 500 regional and international practitioners of intrapreneurship and participants to address the following challenges: How to channel intrapreneurial energy into our economies, How to develop the market-place for intrapreneurship, How to network with the emerging providers of intrapreneurship related services, How to network with investors, How to plan for early retirement and How to shift from an intrapreneur to a successful businessmen and business women, among other topics.

Among the confirmed keynote speakers to date is Dr. Gifford Pinchot, a leading exponent of intrapreneurship, known as the "godfather of intrapreneurship". Dr. Pinchot is responsible for coining the words "intrapreneur", "intrapreneuring" and "intrapreneurship". He is also a member of The Firm's International Advisory Board and a leading author, speaker and consultant on launching businesses and innovation management, having helped to launch over 700 businesses, several of which are each doing over a billion dollars in sales.

Commenting on the launch of GIFORUM, Mr. Abdullah AlSubyani, Founder and CEO of The Firm, said: "We are delighted to announce the launch of the Global Intrapreneurship Forum™2012 in the Kingdom of Bahrain, an ideal location and a longstanding hub for business and trade and a strategic gateway to the fast growing markets of the GCC region. This is the first forum dedicated to both building awareness of and promoting intrapreneurship on a global level. The concept of intrapreneurship is an important one in corporate growth and local economic development and this forum aims to become the leading annual event dedicated to bringing together the world's leading exponents of intrapreneurship, aspiring intrapreneurs and those investors, individual and institutional, that are interested in finding and supporting new and exciting ideas and innovations."

Mr. AlSubyani continued: "We expect that those participating in the forum to learn or further strengthen the qualities required to develop intrapreneurial skills as well as leverage this opportunity to network with participating corporates, investors and innovators in order to begin the practical transformation of pioneering new business ideas into new business realities that drive growth at the individual, corporate, country or regional level and across multiple industry sectors including Hydrocarbons, infrastructure, Aviation, Clean Energy, Education, Financial Services, Healthcare, Information & Communication Technologies (ICT), Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Media, Mining, Tourism, Transportation and Power & Water."

Mr. Abdul Rahim Naqi, Secretary General of the Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC) commented:"We are delighted to support the GIFroum as it present an excellent platform to encourage the Intrapreneurship spirit among the Intrapreneurship in the GCC region and to develop business opportunities between the GCC and the Global markets. FGCCC will support this event strategically and will encourage all its members to attend the event.

The FGCCC is one of the Strategic Partners for the event.

The Firm has also established a high level Executive Steering Committee for GIFORUM, comprised of leading international and regional entrepreneurs and business leaders to help in the development of the event in order to ensure maximum benefits for all participants and ensure relevance to the unique challenges and issues facing intrapreneurs internationally and in specific high growth sectors and regions of the world including the GCC countries.

To date, members of the committee are Mr. James Mawson, Founder and Editor of Global Corporate Venturing magazine (UK); Mr. Richard Bendis, founding President and CEO of Innovation America (USA), Mrs. Elham Hassan, an independent consultant and Board Member of organizations such as The Economic Development Board (EDB) and Solidarity Group Holding (Bahrain), Mr. Osama AlKhaja, Chief Executive Officer at Royal Arabian, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kuwait Finance House-Bahrain, Mr. Ahmed Al Sari, Executive Partner of Malaz Capital and co-founder of Al-Khaleej Al-Falak Group (Saudi Arabia), Rony Elnashar, Rony El-Nashar, founder & Managing Partner of SeedStartup and Mr. Hassan AlJabri, CEO of SEDCO Capital (Saudi Arabia).

"With the support, expertise and input from a distinguished group of international and regional business leaders that have formed the Steering Committee for GIFORUM, and the high-level speakers, panelists and participants that we expect to feature at the forum, we are confident this will be a highly successful event and will go a long way towards supporting the growth and development of intrapreneurship and its needed services regionally and globally," projected Mr. AlSubyani.

The Firm, which is headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain, has been created in order to provide a unique private platforms for corporates and investors to enhance business development and encourage and support intrapreneurship within and between organisations and the innovators working within them. The Firm serves a regional and international member base, consisting of leading corporates, investment institutions and intrapreneurs for whom it provides access to private networking platforms to help them form new businesses and achieve business growth in different sectors and industries.

The Firm is founded by a number of leading corporate intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs from Saudi Arabia and United State of America.. The club's development is further supported by an international Advisory Board that is comprised of a group of individuals with significant experience in corporate venturing, intrapreneurship, corporate investment, venture capital and private equity, business development consultancy and idea management.

Further information on speakers, sponsors and other highlights of the Global Intrapreneurship Forum™ 2012, will soon be announced. For further information or queries on the forum, please visit www.giforum.thefirm-online.com or contact The Firm on: 77022550 or 38320634.

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About The Firm
Headquartered in the Kingdom of Bahrain, The Firm (TF) is an international private members club established to provide a unique platform to corporates and investors to enhance business development and encourage and support corporate entrepreneurship ("intrapreneurship") within and between organisations worldwide. The Firm serves a regional and international member base consisting of leading global companies, investment institutions, and corporate entrepreneurs (intrapreneurs) that benefit from the club's private network and broad range of high-impact business development forums and events across key industry sectors.

The Firm is founded by a number of leading corporate intrapreneurs and entrepreneurs from the Middle East region and globally. It is further supported by an international Advisory Board comprised of individuals with significant experience in entrepreneurship and corporate investment. Membership to The Firm is referral based in order to ensure the development of a high calibre network from regional and international markets that can provide value and support the creation of an effective market place for business development and intrapreneurship.

For more information please visit: www.thefirm-online.com

© Press Release 2012