It would be difficult to encapsulate the sheer magnitude of the ambition of the people of Jordan; this is a part of our Kingdom’s intangible legacy. The pioneering spirit which resides within each of us is a bold one, it sees beyond the mundane, the accepted, the status quo. It resonates at the highest frequencies and seeks to manifest itself in the most exceptional ways.

Jordan has long been home to out-of-the-box thinkers, and the nurturing ecosystem that hosts them. It has led many pioneering efforts in the Arab world in the last several decades; Jordan was the first Arab state to enact a constitution all the way back in 1952, the first Arab country to issue female police officers, and the first Arab country to establish a national airline in 1963. In sports, we were the first Arab country to win the AFC Asian Cup in football, host a FIFA tournament (the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in 2016), and win an Olympic medal in taekwondo.

And the realm of technology has certainly been no exception—in fact, Jordan established its first tech fund all the way back in 1988. In this world of tech alone, the Kingdom boasts numerous other ‘firsts’: Jordan was the first Arab country to introduce mobile banking, the first MENA incubator was based in Jordan, and the first e-commerce platform was also established here, as well as the first Arabic language search engine, digital encyclopedia, and email service provider. Jordan was also the first Arab country to establish a technology park, the first mobile game studio in the Middle East, and had the first notable tech exit in the region (as well as one of the first tech IPOs).

Jordanian women are also breaking the proverbial glass ceiling—in fact, we were the first Arab country to have a female judge in its highest court. And our women have burst onto the tech stage, breaking all kinds of boundaries and stereotypes. Not only do they occupy a third of ICT jobs in Jordan, but women in the C-suite are transforming the world of tech from the top of the pyramid. And at 60% of all new hires, the trailblazing women of Jordan show that the future really belongs to them.

As the largest contributor of Arabic language content—a whopping three-quarter majority—the small Kingdom of Jordan is making some seriously big waves on a global scale. And education might well be the key to Jordan’s success. An impressive number of university graduates—one in five, in fact—hold degrees in IT and Engineering, proof of their commitment to building a tech-savvy nation.

With more than 20 VCs operating here, we are host to one of the most efficient ecosystems for entrepreneurship in the region, and open the doors to an Arabic-speaking market of around 400 million potential customers. When we think about the limitless potential Jordan offers to investors, who wouldn’t want to be part of this thrilling tech revolution?