From Hildburg Bruns
And the winner is: Hamed Beheshti! An Iranian who has lived in China, Malaysia, Kenya, Lebanon – and saves a little bit of the world from Berlin.
The entrepreneur builds cost-effective water desalination systems in Marienfelde that are operated with solar energy. Economics Senator Franziska Giffey (45, SPD) awarded him and co-founder Ali Al-Hakim the Diversity Prize for migrant companies in the Red City Hall on Wednesday.
“They are at home in all sectors, from crafts to fintech start-ups,” said the SPD politician in her laudatory speech. “They develop innovative products and services, create jobs and are one of the reasons why Berlin is developing economically well above the national average.“
The water desalinated by solar energy is also used to grow vegetables and fish. It makes it easier for Africans to return to their villages Photo: Boreal Light GmbH Photo: Boreal Light GmbH
The honored Marienfeld company “Boreal Light” produces drinking water from brackish and salt water – for the equivalent of 50 cents per 1000 liters. In recent months, five systems have also been delivered to the city of Mykolaiv (Ukraine), where they serve 500,000 residents. The company has 25 employees from 14 nations in Berlin and 310 in Africa.
More winners
►Surja Bose (“Bosenet Systemhaus”), who came to Berlin from India as a 15-year-old. For example, his IT company has digitized the so-called Dublin procedure for asylum seekers.
►Elena Mecjik (“Inhuber”), who fled from Russia to Germany in 1997. The math genius has developed a highly secure solution for managing contracts and electronic signatures.
In Berlin, every fifth company is founded by a person with a migration background. It’s often academics. They make up 37.9 percent of the self-employed – that’s 84,900 in absolute terms.