Last June, AC exclusively published the full profiles of MIT Arab Business Plan Competition 2008-2009 winners, back then we said that it is one of the great initiatives that are helping entrepreneurial drive in the region.

The competition which is the equivalent of MIT 100K Entrepreneurship Competitions in Boston, has launched its 2009-2010 edition and started taking applications as of yesterday.

As with last year, MIT Arab Business Plan Competition 09-10 is open to all Arab nationals with a business idea. The only requirement is to be part of a team. You cannot enter the competition as one person. The competition believes that a viable team should comprise minimum 3 individuals. At least 2 members of the team should be citizens of the Arab world, and the business concept should be implemented in a country within the Arab world.
To apply for the competition, users are required to fill the online application form  (found here ) consisting of 16 questions that summarize their business idea and the means of implementing it. The application is available in English language only and should be filled out in English too.
The deadline for submitting the applications is Thursday, January 12, 2010 at 23:59, GMT.
Announcing the first round winners, will be on February 22,  2010, where thirty teams will qualify for the second round of the competition. The winning teams will be invited – After doing their business planning homework – on March 21, 2010 to attend a one-day workshop lead by Ken Morse, Managing Director of MIT Entrepreneurship Center in Cambridge, MA. During that day each team will  be designated a mentor who can help on the business plan,  and will  lead the team to a successful business plan submission due on April 14, 2010.
Announcing the second round winners will be on May 13, 2010, where 9 teams will qualify for the third round of the Competition.
On round three of the competition; the 9 teams will be invited to Cairo to present their business plans on Thursday, June 17, 2010, where the three winning teams will be announced in a ceremony.

It is worth mentioning that the competition website does not clearly mention the awards amount and that its PR team has been doing a poor PR job in notifying the media or at least AC.

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