Global Entrepreneurship Congress
The Global Entrepreneurship Congress – GEC 2019 took place on April 15-18 in Manama, Bahrain, unifying a broad collection of voices from the thousands of entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, policymakers and other startup champions who attend this event from more than 170 countries.
Ramy Boujawdeh – Deputy GM of Berytech, represented Berytech at the congress whose overarching purpose is to identify new ways of helping founders start and scale new ventures anywhere in the world.
GEC 2019 focused its numerous sessions and networking opportunities on three specific themes, Global Entrepreneurial Revolution, High-Performance Ecosystems and Inclusive Economies.
Global Entrepreneurial Revolution
A global entrepreneurial revolution has taken hold over the last several years and continues to grow – building a shared engine of innovation and economic growth in cities everywhere.
Through a focus on the Global Entrepreneurial Revolution, GEC 2019 explored innovative approaches to empower entrepreneurs which communities and countries around the world are implementing, and new emerging innovative solutions and advancements that are changing the entrepreneurship environment globally.
High-Performance Ecosystems
Vibrant, scalable high-performing ecosystems are growing quickly around the world – and they share a common set of characteristics. Local connectedness – founders developing quality relationships with each other, investors and ecosystem builders – and strong sense of community are the first two building blocks, but they are only half of the answer. Global connectedness and global market reach are necessary to supercharge an emerging ecosystem.
Through a focus on High-Performance Ecosystems, GEC 201 9 examined this new genome of successful startups while exploring data-driven insights into policy and program action plans to help more startups grow.
Inclusive Economies
Entrepreneurship is a positive force that drives innovation, creates wealth and improves lives in communities, cities and countries alike. But not everyone has the same opportunity – and it has a negative economic impact, especially in a globally-connected era. Race, age, gender, where one lives, etc. should not be an obstacle to entrepreneurship. One should be able to start a business quickly, inexpensively, without confusion and without barriers – unleashing the full economic potential of society.
Through a focus on Inclusive Entrepreneurship, GEC 201 9 explored barriers to under-represented groups – barriers such as bias, declining infrastructure and demographic shifts –and how they can be addressed.
Future of Food Security and Agri-food Innovations Panel
Part of the congress, Berytech participated in the panel focused on the future of food security and agri-food innovations in the MENA region, identifying the potential for the region for the present and the future.
During the session Boujawdeh intervened in showcasing Berytech’s Agri-Food Innovation Accelerator – Agrytech’s impact in Lebanon in catalyzing innovations in agri-food, Berytech’s active role in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and how it was able to connect food and technology to improve local food security.
Boujawdeh elaborated on the importance of food security in the region and the importance of connecting the needs of the farmers to produce in terms of technology and support. He also highlighted the difference between Lebanon and developed countries in terms of size of land, education of farmers, access to resources, etc. He also pointed to the value of human potential to be used in education, engineering, computer science to sort those challenges.
The audience was a mix of policy makers and global foundations attending and interacting with the panel in addition to investors, people in the farming sector who were debating the next steps.
