INSEAD, one of the world›s leading business schools, in partnership with the International Labor Organization's (ILO) Taqeem Initiative recently hosted a symposium bringing together senior stakeholders to discuss "what works" when creating effective policies and programs on entrepreneurship. The Middle East and North Africa regions have the highest unemployment rates globally. To address this challenge, all stakeholders need to work together to identify policies that are effective in fostering an enabling eco-system for entrepreneurship and job creation. The symposium targeted senior stakeholders from government, private sector, supporting institutions and academia interested in promoting entrepreneurship for inclusive growth and decent job creation based on rigorous evidence. Speakers at the symposium included Dr. Lama Al Sulaiman, Vice Chair and Board Member of the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce, Ovais Naqvi, Managing Director at The Abraaj Group, Khalifa Al Kuwaiti from the Khalifa Fund for Entrepreneurship Development, Markus Goldstein from World Bank, and Bruno Crépon from ENSAE, CREST and JPAL. The participants represented countries and organizations from across the region including Jordan, Egypt and the GCC. Maria Guadalupe, Academic Director of the RCT Lab noted "In the face of global instability and increasing inequality, the need to develop policies that promote entrepreneurship and decent job creation is ever increasing. I believe that rigorous testing of different policies is essential to determine the right direction for action, and that finding this direction will involve the cooperation between policy makers, research institutions, and also the private sector. The work we promote from the RCT Lab sits at that intersection and we are delighted to be able to promote such conversations in this workshop". Drew Gardiner, Chief Technical Advisor for ILO's Taqeem Initiative, remarked "the ILO is pleased to partner with INSEAD and the CEG to support the spread of evidence about "what works" in entrepreneurship and decent work for youth." Speaking about the event, Patricia McCall, Executive Director of the Centre for Economic Growth, added "the CEG is pleased to be a platform for dialogue between the public and private sector on critical economic issues including how to foster entrepreneurship in order to tackle the youth unemployment crisis." As one of the world›s leading and largest graduate business schools, INSEAD offers participants a truly global educational experience. — SG
