Abdulsalam Haykal (b. Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, July 14, 1978) is a Syrian technology and media entrepreneur

Entrepreneur

An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...

, who lives and works in Damascus

Damascus

Damascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...

, Syria

Syria

Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....

. In 2009, the World Economic Forum

World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is a Swiss non-profit foundation, based in Cologny, Geneva, best known for its annual meeting in Davos, a mountain resort in Graubünden, in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland....

 named Haykal as a Young Global Leader, the first Syrian to receive this recognition.

Haykal is CEO of Transtek, an enterprise software development firm, and of Haykal Media, publisher of the business newsmagazine

Newsmagazine

A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published piece of paper, magazine or a radio or television program, usually weekly, featuring articles or segments on current events...

 Aliqtisadi

Aliqtisadi

Aliqtisadi is a Syrian Arabic-language newsmagazine published monthly in Damascus. It was the first private business magazine to be licensed in Syria, since all private media was nationalized by Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1958, during the short-lived Syrian-Egyptian union...

, and the English monthly Forward Magazine

Forward Magazine

Forward Magazine is a Syrian English-language newsmagazine published monthly in Damascus. It was the first private English-language periodical to be licensed in Syria, since all private media was nationalized by Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1958, during the short-lived Syrian-Egyptian union...

. The Report: Emerging Syria 2008 listed Haykal Media with its magazines and online media as one of three main players in the media sector in Syria.

Haykal is president of the Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association (SYEA), an NGO formed as part of the reform process in Syria. He is also a founder and trustee in several other organizations including BIDAYA Foundation, an NGO to help disadvantaged young people to become entrepreneurs by providing business mentoring and charitable micro-loans; and Tumuhi, a national college scholarship fund.

Haykal studied at the American University of Beirut

American University of Beirut

The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...

, and the School of Oriental and African Studies

School of Oriental and African Studies

The School of Oriental and African Studies is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the University of London...

 (SOAS), University of London

University of London

-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...

. In June 2007, he was elected as an alumni trustee of the American University of Beirut

American University of Beirut

The American University of Beirut is a private, independent university in Beirut, Lebanon. It was founded as the Syrian Protestant College by American missionaries in 1866...

, the youngest in its history. He is also a trustee of the University of Kalamoon, a private higher education institution in Syria. In April 2010, he was invited by the Obama Administration to the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship

Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship

In his "A New Beginning" speech on June 4, 2009, at Cairo University in Cairo, Egypt, President of the United States Barack Obama announced that "I will host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in...

, in recognition of his business development activities.