Hi, Namulanta Combo here and I'm excited to tell you that my award-winning podcast, Dear Daughter, is back for a second season and it's available now. Find out more at the end of this podcast.

How do you launch a successful startup in a country where there's been more than a decade of war?

I'm Maddie Savage in Stockholm, and today's program is all about a Syrian entrepreneur,

who's used his experiences of working for tech and travel companies here in the Nordics

to launch Syria's most popular ride-sharing app.

Even if you don't have that perfect infrastructure, you still can't. to launch Syria's most popular ride-sharing app.

Even if you don't have that perfect infrastructure, you still can't create something.

If we don't start doing it as Syrians ourselves, if we don't do it, who will?

Khalid Mustafa founded the Yulego platform in 2019, and now it's used by thousands of people to book taxis and get around Syria's biggest cities. He's sharing his story for our latest edition of Business Daily Meets on the BBC

World Service, where we bring you in-depth interviews with inspirational people in business from

across the planet. I'll be hearing about the challenges and rewards that come from launching a company during a time of conflict

and getting a glimpse into Syria's emerging tech scene.

Not so many international players are interested yet in the Syrian market.

Is it going to happen?

I think it will.

On the surface, daily life in Syria's capital, Damascus,

sounds similar to many other Middle Eastern cities.

Cars, buses, people out shopping at markets, going to coffee shops and shisha bars. There is still a civil war in the country, though.

It started in 2011 after a peaceful uprising against President Bashar al-Assad escalated,

and it's left around half a million people dead.

But fighting has largely stopped in the capital, which is controlled by the government.

And in this part of Syria, that's led to big changes in digital infrastructure.

...