Under the patronage of HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Crown Prince, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Council for Economic and Development Affairs, the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC) will start tomorrow at the King Abdulaziz International Conference Center and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Riyadh, organized by the General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises "Monshaat" in cooperation with the Global Entrepreneurship Network under the slogan "Reboot, Rethink, and Regenerate". The conference, whose activities will continue until Wednesday, March 30, 2022, in the presence of entrepreneurs, investors, experts, and decision-makers from 180 countries, will discuss several topics aimed at building a unified global system for entrepreneurship, helping entrepreneurs to sustain and expand their businesses around the world, and be aware of new global trends in the post-pandemic era, through more than 100 informative brainstorming sessions involving more than 150 speakers. More than 26 ministers from around the world, speakers from international company leaders, economists, and decision-makers, will participate in the sessions, to discuss important topics in the field of entrepreneurship, and best practices for building a global entrepreneurship system, including HRH Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Energy, Minister of Investment, Eng. Khalid Al-Falih, and Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Abdullah Al-Swaha. Internationally, the conference will host various senior entrepreneurs, including Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph, GEN Entrepreneur, and Chairman Jeff Hoffman, and Ashish Thakkar, founder of Mara Group, in addition to a large number of speakers specialized in various sectors of interest to entrepreneurs. The conference sessions aim to be a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs and a positive incentive to take innovative measures that keep pace with the accelerated efforts to develop the entrepreneurship environment at the local, regional and international levels, in addition to providing the best measures to achieve economic recovery for small and medium enterprises in the post-pandemic stage. All major conference sessions will be streamlined via the live broadcast feature on Monshaat's Twitter account (@MonshaatSA), to allow as many people as possible to benefit from the discussions. The global event will also witness signing several agreements, and announcements of investment opportunities in support of entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises, with the participation of representatives from the government and private sectors, and major international companies. An exhibition will be held on the sidelines of the conference at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, as well as workshops and innovation sections, and other events aimed at developing the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation among young people to contribute to sustainable development and motivate them to come up with innovative ideas that keep pace with the accelerated efforts to develop the entrepreneurship environment at the local, regional and international levels, in addition to inspiring and informative trips to view the latest innovations in entrepreneurship sphere. The Global Entrepreneurship Network has chosen Riyadh to host the conference due to the vibrant entrepreneurship environment in the Kingdom, which was embodied in its ranking first out of 45 countries in the "Good opportunities to start a business" and "Ease to start a business", indicators and the first in the "Pandemic Entrepreneurs' Response" and "The Kingdom's Government Response to the Pandemic" indicators, according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor Index.
