A press conference was held at the Bahrain Chamber’s headquarters on Sunday, April 21, 2024, during which the details of the fifth edition of the World Entrepreneurship Investment Forum (WEIF), which is being held this year under the slogan: “Achieving sustainable development goals by promoting innovation and economic growth” were revealed, from May 14 to 16, 2024, under the patronage of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince and Prime Minister Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa. The press conference was attended by the President of the Union of Arab Chambers, and the President of the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Samir Abdullah Nass, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Bahrain Chamber, Sonia Janahi, and virtually via the “Zoom” application, the Secretary-General of the Union of Arab Chambers, Dr. Khaled Hanafi. The Assistant Secretary-General for Economic Affairs of the League of Arab States, Ambassador Ali bin Ibrahim Al-Maliki, and the Head of the Investment and Technology Promotion Office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) - Kingdom of Bahrain, Dr. Hashim Hussein, also participated.
President Samir Nass explained that the fifth edition of the forum will carry the slogan “Achieving sustainable development goals by promoting innovation and economic growth.” Stressing that the forum seeks to address global challenges, including poverty, inequality, climate change, peace and justice in light of the sustainable development goals, as innovation and economic growth are critical enabling factors for achieving the sustainable development goals, innovation can also lead to the development of new technologies, products, and services that can address social and environmental challenges, and economic growth can provide the resources needed to invest in sustainable development initiatives.
Nass stressed the importance of this conference, which reflects trends toward promoting entrepreneurship and investment and providing an incubating and supportive environment for this sector. In addition to adopting initiatives and programs that achieve sustainable development goals, which contribute to many achievements in entrepreneurship and investment, Bahrain now enjoys an advanced position on the global map of innovation and entrepreneurship.
Nass pointed to the role played by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry through implementing many programs and events that enhance the goals of development, innovation, and economic growth, and launched community partnership programs and supported volunteer initiatives to cover various development areas pointing out the Chamber’s keenness to work in parallel with the government’s development strategies to assist in the process of growth and innovation and create opportunities and well-paid jobs. In addition to encouraging entrepreneurship by working hard with various parties to enhance the position of investors with more incentives and opportunities to increase the pace of investments, which contributes to economic diversification and improves many other related sectors.
The Secretary-General of the Union, Dr. Khaled Hanafi, spoke during the press conference, noting the importance of holding the forum “The International Entrepreneurship Forum 2024 aims to achieve sustainable development goals by promoting innovation and economic growth for entrepreneurs, which directly contributes to achieving their economic and social development.”
Dr. Khaled Hanafi noted that “the forum enjoys the support of a number of partners in the field of micro, small and medium enterprise development, entrepreneurship and innovation, most notably the International Federation for Social Responsibility and the Shenzhen - China Federation,” to promote youth entrepreneurship, the International Network of Small and Medium Enterprises, the International Network of Women Entrepreneurs, the Creative Business Network, the Islamic Cooperation Youth Forum, the Women’s Development Organization, and the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. In addition to a large number of stakeholders, such as ministries, governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, non-governmental organizations, development financial institutions, regional and international organizations, commercial banks, universities, small and medium-sized enterprise support institutions, research centers, think tanks, incubators, accelerators, chambers of commerce and industry, and others.
The Secretary-General, Dr. Khaled Hanafi noted that, as a follow-up to the success achieved by the “Living Independently” initiative, and in order to intensify work to achieve economic empowerment for people with disabilities, dialogue sessions will be held during the forum to complete the development of practical programs that contribute to the advancement of people with disabilities in Arab countries. During the conference, an exhibition of modern technology for people with disabilities will be organized, in addition to an exhibition of the projects that qualified in the second edition of the “Living Independently” competition. The second session of the Productive Families Forum will also be organized during the forum, within the framework of the economic and social empowerment of productive families. The forum seeks to identify the optimal mechanisms to help them transition from the informal style to the formal style through entrepreneurship programs, as distinguished productive families have high skill in craft industries and simple products because these families exploited all available resources from the surrounding environment and transformed them into innovative products that suit the tastes and needs of consumers.
The Minister of Industry, Trade, and Tourism in the Kingdom of Bahrain, Abdullah bin Adel Fakhro, confirmed that holding this conference in Manama stands as a testament to the leadership of the Kingdom of Bahrain in promoting sustainable economic growth. In an effort to consolidate its position regionally and internationally by innovating solutions to address global challenges, in light of the sustainable development goals, by pursuing entrepreneurship, which is considered one of the most important enabling factors for achieving those goals.
He pointed out that the presence of this forum in this huge scientific forum is an opportunity to meet minds, exchange experiences, and acquire knowledge and skills. As the slogan of the forum this year is entitled “Achieving Sustainable Development Goals by Promoting Innovation And Economic Growth,” is a testament to our determination to follow a multi-faceted approach that includes spreading a culture of entrepreneurship, encouraging partnerships, cooperation, and knowledge exchange, investing in research and development and creating an incubating environment for creativity and innovation.
Minister Fakhro called on entrepreneurs to make the most of this event and the private sector by seizing the opportunities that this forum will generate. Emphasizing the keenness of the Government of the Kingdom of Bahrain to continue working on preparing the infrastructure to support entrepreneurship and to adopt the outcomes of this global event to continue construction and development with the Bahrain team, to contribute to achieving the desired sustainable economic growth and transform the challenges we are witnessing in the rapidly changing world into opportunities.
The head of the Investment and Technology Promotion Office of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), Dr. Hashem Hussein: This global forum exercises its creative role within the scope of its activities that are harmonious in an integrated manner with the United Nations system. It is developing at a steady and steady pace with its activities to become an event that is talked about by the numbers of achievements it achieved during its past four editions, extending from the year 2015 to the present day. Explaining that during this relatively short period in the record of international development and progress standards, the “International Forum for Entrepreneurship and Investment” succeeded in achieving tangible growth, and leaving a clear positive mark on improving the performance of the global entrepreneurship movement in general, and the Arab one in particular. The International Forum for Entrepreneurship and Investment has played this prominent role and will continue to play it. In order to enhance economic growth, push forward creative innovation initiatives, and develop sustainable development performance measures, which are called for and heralded by the Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations. All of this is done in concrete and integrated harmony with the United Nations and its related institutions. Through the distinctive relationship woven by its various initiatives, between creative entrepreneurship and venture investment centers, established dynamic mechanisms have emerged that establish the values, standards, performance, and performance of entrepreneurship in the productive global scene it calls for, and continue to provide it with the ability to weave strong, fruitful relationships between creative innovators, and bold investors.
Chamber of Commerce member Sonia Janahi revealed that about 1,000 participants from 100 countries will participate in the forum, including 600 to 700 participants from outside Bahrain. She pointed out that the forum aims to open the way for entrepreneurs to achieve their goals in partnership with participants from abroad, and to communicate their business globally. Pointing out that the participants are creative people who do not need traditional support, but rather they need training and financial support from large companies and families to invest in the ideas of Bahrain’s creative people to take them abroad. Through partnerships for entrepreneurs, there were about 300 agreements with small and large enterprises in this field during the forums held over the past four years, and there is financial support worth hundreds of millions, especially for African country institutions, to focus globally.
Source (Union of Arab Chambers)
