Bahrain-based investment firm Arcapita is looking to target potential growth companies across the region to help develop economic growth through supporting entrepreneurs.

It is planning to work in partnership with All World Network, an international US-based organisation, to bring regional and international attention to the vibrant, indigenous cluster of emerging growth companies in the GCC.

'The programme is called the GCC Fast Growth 100 (GCC100) and as well as providing further support for successful growth entrepreneurs, it will generate increased visibility to attract the capital and expertise to help their enterprises scale up,' said Arcapita chief executive officer Atif Abdulmalik .

'As they scale up, further opportunities will be created,' he added.

The GCC Fast Growth 100 will find fast-growing companies, some of them only a few years old, and rank them based on revenue growth.

Not only will the top companies become part of the GCC100, but they will also qualify for the region-wide Arabia500.

Scheduled for October, the GCC100 will bring together owners and executives of the region's fastest growing companies with proven records of success and exciting growth possibilities.

'If there can be any certainty, it is that in a generation, the region will look conspicuously different viewed from any of these perspectives,' said Abdulmalik.

'We believe that one of the keystones of economic independence is entrepreneurship.

'In industrialised countries, 70 per cent of all jobs are created in the private sector, and most of these jobs are generated by fast-growth companies that each year expands employment and wealth at many times the national rates of GDP growth.

'The importance of encouraging and promoting entrepreneurial endeavour is already widely recognised, and resources are available throughout the GCC that can advise and support individuals in the building of successful enterprises.

'So there are an increasing number of entrepreneurial and high-growth companies in the region.

'But virtually all of them are operating out of public view, and we think it's important to highlight and encourage these success stories.

'Success in our business of private equity comes from identifying high-growth and high-potential companies, and the entrepreneurial management teams behind them, and making them larger,' he said.

'To date, we have found most opportunities in the mature markets of the US, Europe and Asia,' he added.

'And there are many other investment firms like Arcapita, all of whom are investing in promising companies and working to make them more successful.

'The economies where these companies are found are recipients of the global investment stream, as well as valuable expertise, and the other advantages that the attentions of global private equity investment can bring.' he added.-TradeArabia News Service