WASHINGTON, April 27, 2010 (WAFA)- President Obama is hosting a Summit on Entrepreneurship that begins today, Monday, in Washington, D.C.
A delegation of eight Palestinian entrepreneurs was selected by the White House to participate in the Summit. This delegation represents a diverse group of businessmen and women representing successful entrepreneurship in many different forms, from a college student who started her own company to a venture capitalist to the head of Young Entrepreneurs of Palestine. They hail from Qalqilyah, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Jenin, and Hebron.
The Summit, which the President announced in his speech in Cairo on June 4, 2009, will deepen ties and foster new partnerships that encourage entrepreneurship between business leaders, foundations, and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Arab and Muslim communities around the world. The Summit will highlight the important role that entrepreneurs play in creating jobs and improving their communities, and will emphasize President Obama’s broader aims of supporting entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic opportunity at home and abroad.
In addition to participation by President Obama and other senior U.S. Government officials, the Summit on Entrepreneurship will consist of several plenary sessions and keynote addresses over the course of the two days, on topics such as youth and women’s entrepreneurship, access to capital, innovation and technology, social entrepreneurship, promoting and enabling business, fostering a culture of entrepreneurship, and mentoring and giving back.
Entrepreneurs from over 50 countries on five continents will participate in the Summit, including social and economic entrepreneurs and stakeholders in the “entrepreneurship ecosystem” – from lenders to educators. Among the approximately 250 participants will be prominent panelists, including Dr. Mo Ibrahim, Founder of Celtel; Chris Hughes, Founder of Jumo; Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Laureate and Managing Director of Grameen Bank; Putera Sampoerna of the Sampoerna Foundation; Linda Rottenberg, CEO and Co-Founder of Endeavor; S.A. Ibrahim, CEO of Radian Group; Arif Naqvi of Abraaj Capital; Jerry Yang, Co-Founder and Chief of Yahoo; Sandiaga Uno, founding partner of Saratoga Capital; Obiageli Ezekwesili from the World Bank; and Shane Tedjarati, CEO of Honeywell China.
To mark the beginning of the Summit, U.S. Consul General Daniel Rubinstein and USAID Mission Director Howard Sumka will host a reception for business leaders, representatives of the Palestinian Authority, and civil society leaders at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Ramallah, from 4:00 to 6:00 p.m. local time.
