Ministers convene for 7th Startup Nations Ministerial

During the 2023 Global Entrepreneurship Congress, the Global Entrepreneurship Network convened 40 senior policy leaders for the Startup Nations Ministerial.
Matt
Smith

Melbourne, Australia – During the 2023 Global Entrepreneurship Congress, the Global Entrepreneurship Network convened 40 senior policy leaders for the Startup Nations Ministerial – a closed gathering of government leaders responsible for supporting entrepreneurs and startups. Through the Ministerial, ministers and their officially designated envoys or heads of entrepreneurship agencies gathered and engaged in a high-level deep dive into how the public sector can better support more new and young businesses to start and grow. 

The 2023 Ministerial was the seventh edition of the meeting and featured official delegations from 30 governments. GEN knowledge partners including Startup Genome, the OECD Development Centre, Innovation for Policy Foundation, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Cleantech Group also participated and facilitated discussions.  

“I am deeply impressed by the willingness of ministers to learn from each other and share invaluable insights into their respective policy successes and failures" said Jonathan Ortmans, President of the Global Entrepreneurship Network. “Entrepreneurs have long celebrated failure as a unique source of knowledge, so it is essential we create more opportunities for policymakers to do the same and share their experiences with each other.” 

Australian Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic MP opened the Ministerial with a speech detailing the host government’s overarching entrepreneurship strategy, the value of its international partnerships and exchanges, and some of the innovations in entrepreneurship policy within Australia’s states and territories, including GEC’s host state of Victoria.  

Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Mission Director of India’s Atal Innovation Mission shared the outcomes of his chairmanship of Startup20 – a new entrepreneurship-focused engagement group launched this year under India’s Presidency of G20. Dr. Vaishnav spoke of the importance of global collaboration in entrepreneurship development.  

The Ministerial plenary session went on to hear from a broad range of ministers in a series of facilitated discussions on ecosystem mapping and metrics (facilitated by Startup Genome), startup acts (facilitated by Innovation for Policy Foundation), insights from Asia (facilitated by OECD Development Centre) and cleantech and net zero policies (facilitated by the Cleantech Group).  

The Ministerial plenary went on to hear from a broad range of ministers in a series of facilitated discussions. Startup Genome led a discussion on the importance and best practice in ecosystem mapping, metrics and performance tracking to help inform government strategy. The OECD Development Centre led a discussion on best practice in entrepreneurship policy development from its Startup Asia research program. Innovation for Policy Foundation facilitated a discussion on innovations in the design and implementation of ‘Startup Acts’ in Africa. Finally, the Cleantech Group facilitated a discussion on innovations in cleantech, net zero and wider green entrepreneurship policy.  

The afternoon session saw ministers break out into four sub-ministerials for in-depth discussions on the above topics as well as youth entrepreneurship policy in a discussion facilitated by the Commonwealth Secretariat. Ministers also benefited from facilitated bilaterals among themselves and with other senior entrepreneurship ecosystem leaders both locally and internationally.  

The Ministerial drew to a formal close with a reception hosted by Her Excellency Professor the Honourable Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria in the State Drawing Room of Government House.  

Ministerial Leads included: 

  • Hon. Ed Husic MP, Minister of Industry and Science, Australia

  • Mr. Orkhan Mammadov, Chairman, SME Development Agency of Azerbaijan 

  • Mr. Jache Adams MP, Chairman, Bermuda Economic Development Corporation, Bermuda 

  • Hon. Mr. Karma Dorji, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Employment, Bhutan 

  • H.E. Dr. Kan Channmeta, Secretary of State for Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation 

  • H.E. Achille Basselekin III, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises, Social Economy and Handicrafts 

  • Hon. Francos Rubota Masumbuko, Minister of Rural Development, Democratic Republic of the Congo 

  • Hon. Maria Luisa Hayem, Minister of Economy, El Salvador 

  • Mr. Henrik Kutberg, Head of Startup Policy and Financial Instruments, Estonia 

  • Hon. Giffy Twum Ampofo, Deputy Minister of Education, Ghana 

  • Hon. Lawrence Agyinsam, CEO, Exim Bank, Ghana 

  • Dr. Chintan Vaishnav, Chairperson, Startup20, India 

  • Dr. Chairul Saleh, Director of Community Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship, Coordinating Ministry for Economic Affairs, Indonesia 

  • Hon. Mr. Hussein Falamarz, Minister of Entrepreneurship, Iraq 

  • Mr. Mahadir Aziz, CEO, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, Malaysia 

  • H.E. Halima bint Rashid al-Zari, Chair, Authority for SMEs Development, Oman 

  • Mr. Antonilo Mauricio, General Manager, National Development Company, Philippines 

  • Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed Hassan, Executive Director – Investment, Qatar Development Bank, Qatar 

  • Mr. Saud Alsabhan, Vice Governor, Entrepreneurship, Monsha’at, Saudi Arabia 

  • Hon. Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams, Minister of Small Business Development, South Africa 

  • Hon. Mr. Kanaka Herath MP, State Minister of Technology, Sri Lanka 

  • Mr. Pariwat Wongsamran, Director of Innovation Entrepreneurship Development, National Innovation Agency, Thailand 

  • Mr. Huynh Thanh Dat, Minister of Science and Technology, Vietnam 

  • Ms. Subeta Mutelo, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of SME Development, Zambia 

Observers included: 

  • The Hon. Andrew Barr MLA, Chief Minister, Minister for Industry and Investment, Australia Capital Territory 

  • Louise Gillespie, Associate Director, NSW Innovation and Productivity Council, New South Wales 

  • Olawale Fasanya, Director General, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria 

  • Mr. Zuqarnain Abbas, Special Advisor, Senate of Pakistan 

  • The Hon. Stirling Hinchcliffe MP, Minister for Tourism, Innovation and Sport, Queensland 

  • The Hon. Ben Carroll MP, Minister for Industry and Innovation, Victoria 

Experts included:  

  • Mr. Michael McGeary, Chief Operating Officer, Allied for Startups 

  • Mr. Todd Allmendinger, Director of Consulting and Research, Cleantech Group 

  • Mr. Sushil Ram, Advisor, Commonwealth Secretariat 

  • Mr. Jon Stever, Co-founder and Managing Director, Innovation for Policy Foundation 

  • Mrs. Vasiliki Mavroeidi, Economist, OECD Development Centre 

  • Mr. JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO, Startup Genome 

Hosts included:  

  • Jonathan Ortmans, Founder and President, Global Entrepreneurship Network 

  • Matt Smith, Director of Policy and Research, Global Entrepreneurship Network 

  • Dane Stangler, Senior Advisor, Global Entrepreneurship Network 

  • Tom Hancock, Research Associate, Global Entrepreneurship Network