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The King Salman, the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques
HRH the Crown Prince –Mohammad Bin Salman
Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies, Governors, Ambassadors, ladies and gentlemen
To all the people of Saudi Arabia, our gracious hosts, on behalf of the international community, thank you for your hospitality.
Al salam alaykom – (peace on you).
To our delegations from around the world. Thank you for making such an effort to join us here in Riyadh. Your dedication to those who dream and figure out better ways of doing things is valued in every corner of the earth.
The pandemic has brought many learnings we will hear about this week both in terms of suffering and unprecedented growth and opportunity. We are here today because recovery from a global pandemic requires a response from the world’s most resilient citizens – our entrepreneurs.
As doers, makers and risk-takers, entrepreneurs are comfortable with uncertainty, well-equipped to rapidly rethink solutions amid changing dynamics and data, and uniquely positioned to innovate the world out of the pandemic.
All parts of society from how we educate our children to simply how we live together was already not keeping up with opportunities and threats unveiled by new technologies. The pandemic accelerated this change as more of our citizens adapted to virtual digital worlds and acquired new levels of comfort with shedding old analog behaviors.
We have been sailing on rough seas that have brought winds of change – taking us faster than ever to new destinations and making what was previously seen as too fast and disruptive of a change to being the norm. But every problem has a gift for you in its hands.
For entrepreneurs someone just changed all the rules – changed consumer values and needs – putting headwinds in the face of some and tailwinds to others. They are the leaders and we must foster their success in all our communities.
This week we will Reboot. Rethink. And Regenerate in 7 ways:
A global response to a global opportunity
The COVID-19 pandemic was a global crisis tailor-made for a global response. Astoundingly, it never got one. It accelerated massive changes in consumer behavior and citizens across the world adapted quickly to a sudden and unexpected shutdown of normal life. As pent-up demand from consumers is released, entrepreneurship is surging. Firms are starting and dying at higher rates across the globe. Nations are rallying to reboot their economies by building ecosystems and policies that target a better, more sustainable and equitable post-pandemic world. As they do, they are rethinking approaches to build back stronger and regenerate economic growth – shedding the spotlight on entrepreneurs and the ecosystems that empower them. As we embark on the common mission of rebuilding our economies and creating new jobs, nations must work together to focus on how we can better empower entrepreneurs in rapidly emerging ecosystems. In the recent Global Startup Ecosystem Report, the total value of exits and startup valuations in the top 25 startup ecosystems are above $10 billion and the next 50 boast a value between $1 billion and $10 billion. Vibrant, scalable high-performing ecosystems share a common set of characteristics that can provide a roadmap for entrepreneurial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged communities and economies everywhere.
So, this week we will spotlight common characteristics while exploring data-driven insights into policies and programs that can help all ecosystems reboot, rethink and regenerate – providing a roadmap beyond entrepreneurial recovery to ecosystems that are fully optimized for future performance.
Building one global entrepreneurial ecosystem
A global entrepreneurial revolution has taken hold and continues to grow – building a shared engine of innovation and economic growth in cities and countries everywhere. Investments into early-stage and growth-stage companies are reaching new highs while total value creation of the global startup economy reached $2.3 trillion over the last three years. This revolution is not only happening in mature startup hubs like Silicon Valley, London and Shanghai -- it is happening in thousands of emerging ecosystems around the world. Places like Riyadh and Johannesburg are investing heavily in entrepreneurs to lead their next generation economy.
This week we will strengthen and connect local and national ecosystems in building one global entrepreneurial ecosystem that empowers entrepreneurs to thrive no matter where they are in the world.
Entrepreneurs are trendsetters and game changers
Entrepreneurs are innovative, resilient, fast to leverage technology and thrive in periods of uncertainty and disruption – like now. Recessions have traditionally been excellent times to start new companies that either disrupt the status quo or simply capitalize on new rules and needs.
GEC 2022 will connect entrepreneurs to investors, policymakers and ecosystem builders who can empower them and ensure they are able to achieve maximum impact – at a critical juncture in human history where societies are choosing which ideas to leverage in pursuit of common goals.
Inclusion is the key to strong, sustainable growth
Economies are not able to achieve their full potential when groups of individuals face significant barriers to creating their own company. By removing barriers and enabling entrepreneurs to emerge from under-represented populations such as women, immigrants and ethnic minorities, countries can tap into a large source of human capital.
GEC 2022 assess barriers such as bias, declining infrastructure, government policy and demographic shifts – and potential solutions that unleash the full economic potential of society or in the words of the scholar Philip Gaskin whose presentation you should not miss – inclusive prosperity.
Saudi Arabia has set a new pace to match as a breakthrough ecosystem and a hub for innovation
Saudi Arabia’s transformation from an oil and gas powerhouse to a startup hub for the MENA region is well underway. With a young, talented and tech-savvy population – and strong leadership from its government pursuing ambitious targets laid out in its Vision 2030 while providing stimulus funding to support SMEs impacted by a global pandemic – the Saudi ecosystem has seen transformational growth and is expecting a tenfold investment boom over the next five years which presents unique opportunities for local and foreign SMEs.
GEC 2022 will examine the expansion of the Riyadh ecosystem with new accelerators, co-working spaces, programs, entrepreneurial support organizations and other forms of support that make it an ideal location to start and scale. Stay tuned for major announcements this week at the GEC to further fuel the exponential rate of growth of this innovation ecosystem.
Government has a new role to play to empower its entrepreneurs
Governments set the rules and incentives that create the environment where companies start and scale. Increasingly, they are embracing entrepreneurship as a means of innovating their societies out of the pandemic and regenerating jobs and economic growth. Set against the backdrop of billions of dollars of public investment in struggling post COVID communities, smart use of resources will be paramount, establishing a new generation of government engagement in enabling entrepreneurs.
GEC 2022 will convene senior government officials in a Startup Nations Ministerial to evaluate their policy structure against similar economies with a corresponding summit for government staff and advisors responsible for shaping public policies and programs.
Connectivity and cross-border collaboration is on the rise
The continuing economic fallout from the global pandemic has illustrated how interconnected our economies have become through global value and supply chains. All boats rise on an incoming tide and in the digital age, national boundaries are porous to economic growth through innovation. This has resulted in an exponential increase in cross-border investing, knowledge sharing and collaboration that challenges recent political trends toward isolation, nationalism and popularism.
GEC 2022 will offer a level playing field for all economies to identify new opportunities and leverage a wholly global innovation ecosystem.
Resetting a New Generation of Ecosystems
Since the Global Entrepreneurship Congress began more than 10 years ago, there has been increasing support for entrepreneurs in a global race to build the “next Silicon Valley”. The silver lining of the COVID-19 pandemic is that it temporarily reset economies of all sizes and allowed us the moment we needed to rethink what ecosystems should be.
GEC 2022 will examine the common characteristics shared by vibrant, scalable high-performing ecosystems to provide a roadmap for entrepreneurial recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic that has ravaged communities and economies everywhere.
At GEN our mission is to make it possible for anyone anywhere to start or scale a firm. Much of this work involves removing barriers – especially to those historically left behind within ecosystems faced by entrepreneurs.
However, at the end of the day, our true north is the entrepreneur. It is therefore especially fitting today that we start this conference with perhaps one of the most famous entrepreneurs.