By Ouassima Boujrad
Fez - Barack Obama, the president of the United States of America (USA), announced Tuesday, August 5, during the US-Africa Summit in front of the “US Africa Business Forum,” being held in Washington, D.C., that the next Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Marrakech, Morocco, and will be held on November 20-21.
The Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) is a platform to facilitate the exchange of views and ideas between global business leaders and entrepreneurs and strengthen alliances among them. It was first proclaimed by Barack Obama in his Speech in Cairo in 2009, where he characterizes this step as a “New Beginning,” declaring the inauguration of this summit in the U.S.A. in Washington on 26-27 April 2010 for the first time.
The main objective behind the first summit was to deepen the ties between business leaders, foundations, and entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world. According to www.whitehouse.org, “Participants hail from: Afghanistan, Albania, Algeria, Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei, Cameroon, Canada, China, Denmark, Djibouti, Egypt, Finland, France, Gambia, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Israel Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyz, Lebanon, Libya, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritania, Morocco, Netherlands, Niger, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, the Palestinian Territories, Paraguay, the Philippines, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Spain, Sweden, Syria, Tajikistan, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, Uganda, United Kingdom, the United States, and Yemen.”
The second GES was held December 3-6, 2011, in Turkey, at the Istanbul Harbiye Convention Center, under the theme “Entrepreneurship, Values and Development: A Global Agenda.” The fundamental goals were to improve the culture of entrepreneurship for cross cultural approximation and sustainable development, to support global cooperation among entrepreneurs and to share success stories.
The third GES was organized in Dubai, UAE and held December 11-12, 2012. It’s focus was to provide opportunities to link U.S.A. leadership with the Muslim countries entrepreneurs to create private-sector jobs plus financing, and to highlight the immense support of the U.S.A. government to a sustainable growth promotion, expanding trade, and improving the investment climate in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as the world.
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was the site of the fourth GES, held October 11, 2013. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry replaced Barack Obama as the summit’s leaders. The aim of the 2013 GES was to boost opportunities for young entrepreneurs to fulfill dreams and innovations and make easier networking and wider cooperative opportunities.
This year Morocco will host the event in Marrakesh on November 20-21. It was selected among 50 other African countries, which signifies the immense development the Moroccan country had reached. It is also a frank recognition from the USA government that Morocco is a perfect, sustainable entrepreneurship door for the rest of African states and countries.
According to the “Financial Times,” Morocco ranks as the second most attractive country to host direct foreign investments in the African continent, after South Africa. The Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Salaheddine Mezouar, has indicated that this international meeting will be an open event during which “Morocco is going to target the various countries” with the aim of assuring wider participation.