A tech startup seeks to stop Syria’s talent drain

A tech startup seeks to stop Syria’s talent drain

Tue, 2021-01-19 21:09

DUBAI: Syria's decade-old civil war drove a whole generation of its brightest young minds into exile, depriving its society of the skills needed to recover and keep pace with the modern world. Going against the tide of public opinion, one Damascus-born tech entrepreneur refused to turn his back on his country and, against all odds, has managed to build a flourishing business.

Malek Al-Muzayen, 35, established his first software development firm with three colleagues in 2008 when app-services and e-commerce were still relatively new concepts “” especially in Syria.

Having completed a computer engineering degree at the American University of Sharjah in the UAE, Al-Muzayen returned to Syria convinced the tech industry had immense potential.

"We were working on developing a system for restaurants because, at that time, Syria had a boom in tourism, restaurants and related businesses,“ Al-Muzayen told Arab News.

Damascus-born Syrian tech entrepreneur Malek Al-Muzayen refused to turn his back on his country and, against all odds, has managed to build a flourishing business. (Supplied)

Sensing an opportunity, his team put their heads together and developed an accounting point-of-sale system for eateries to manage their daily accounting and invoices.

"We saw a gap for such solutions, so I was able to