The Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) operates a platform of projects and programs in 180 countries aimed at making it easier for anyone, anywhere to start and scale a business. Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) is a massive campaign to celebrate and empower entrepreneurs in every country and community around the world, especially those individuals who face structural barriers or may have never considered the idea of launching their own startup.
The GEW host for Sri Lanka, the Information and Communication Technology Agency (ICTA) is the Apex National Digital Agency under the President, mandated to provide leadership for the national digital strategy and the digital transformation for the Government of Sri Lanka.
GEN-Pakistan together with the GEW host ICTA celebrated 15 years of Global Entrepreneurship Week and an international webinar on "Entrepreneurial Policies and Challenges In Digital Era" was held on 19th November, 2022 from 5:00 pm to 7:00 pm (Pakistan Standard Time).
It was the first of its kind event hosted by GEN-Pakistan ICTA Sri Lanka as a good collaboration was ensured in it through the kind participation of panelists from 6 different countries. The panelist include Rebecca Palmer-Social Entrepreneurship Ecosystem Advisor from Canada, Fabio Bianchi-Head of Entrepreneurship OXENTIA from England, Mooketsi Benedict-General partner PULASPACE from Botswana, Dr. Leonie Baldachhino-GEW National Host from Malta, Sachindra Samararatne-Associate Chief Digital Economy ICTA from Sri Lanka and Kashif M.Khan-MD GEN Pakistan. This session was hosted by Ahmed Waqar Mohsin-Director Strategic Alliance & Partnerships GEN PAKISTAN. The program was streamed live on Facebook and a good number of viewership was witnessed.
It appeared more like an open discussion on a range of connected sub-topics which include Entrepreneurial Ecosystem, Barriers to Entry & Exit, Government Policies about Entrepreneurial Ecosystem(hurdles & support), Impact of policies on Economies and Possible Solutions for Identified Problems. The session was really interactive and all the panelists provided deep insights to the mentioned topics. It was great to see that panelists literally collaborated while providing their input and even raised a few questions related to each other's input.
Great insights and hidden stories being revealed while panelists were integrating the scenarios from their own countries and viewers along with the participants were literally amazed to know about the potential investment opportunities in Botswana, the entrepreneurial policies of MALTA which includes enterprise visa policies, the mentor volunteer program which is in progress in Jordan through the support of Jordanian Government, the hidden cost related issues being faced by number of entrepreneurs (specially the startups) within UK, excessive support of ICT related programs being provided by the Government of Sri Lanka and also the boom of IT industry within Pakistan and its transition towards web 3.0
In a nut-shell, this webinar cum online discussion was not just a program focusing on awareness about challenges of digital era and their possible solutions but it also worked as an eye-opener for many of us because a lot of hidden facts were revealed from different countries along with their pros and cons. It is pretty much evident that GEN always provide endless opportunities to people from all over the globe to connect, collaborate and grow together.