Morocco to host Global Entrepreneurship Summit

Morocco will host the fifth edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Marrakech Nov 20-21 on the theme 'Harnessing the Power of Technology for Innovation and Entrepreneurship'.

The Summit will bring together over 3,000 entrepreneurs, along with heads of state and government officials, small-medium enterprises, corporate leaders and young entrepreneurs.

It will showcase an 'African Innovative Village' where young entrepreneurs will be able to promote their projects and share innovative solutions on various topics to foster dialogue and exchange ideas and innovative thinking.

Being held for the first time in an African country, the selection of Morocco as host

country reflects the active role it plays in the overall economic development of the African continent, the kingdom's leadership in supporting entrepreneurship and the integration of youth and women into the economy.

Morocco will seize the occasion to make the Global Entrepreneurship Summit a call to action for global investors to finance start-ups and new ventures with a strong emphasis on financing ventures for women entrepreneurs, a Moroccan government statement said.

The Summit "will be a moment of celebration" and a platform for exchanging innovative ideas and experiences as well as an occasion for active debate around five main sub-themes:

* Regional Integration

* Sustainable Economic Growth

* Social Innovation for Youth

*Human Development

*Migration.

Launched in 2009 by US President Barack Obama, the Global Entrepreneurship Summit is a government-supported forum aimed at creating bridges between entrepreneurs, banks, venture capitalists, investors and others in the United States and Muslim communities around the world.

"Today the Global Entrepreneurship Summit has become a platform for supporting entrepreneurship to help channel the creativity, innovation, and potential of

millions of individuals around the world to create economic opportunities," the statement said.

The inaugural Global Entrepreneurship Summit was held in Washington in 2010 and was followed by editions in Dubai, Istanbul and Kuala Lumpur.