Dear Readers,

I am delighted to mention that the World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum 2019 (WEIF 2019), recently held in Bahrain on 11th-13th November, was a tremendous success on an international scale. It gives me great pleasure to highlight the significant achievements of WEIF 2019 towards promoting investment, fostering entrepreneurship best practices, and addressing the upcoming Digital Revolution.

This year’s WEIF 2019 marks a new step, as we have been successful in promoting and networking Arab investors with Arab entrepreneurs towards joint investment opportunities. The WEIF 2019 was organized with the 18th Arab Businessmen and Investors Conference (ABIC), held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King of Bahrain. The event was organized by UNIDO ITPO Bahrain in cooperation with the Union of Arab Chambers, the Bahrain Chambers of Commerce and Industry, the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, Union of Arab Banks, Al Baraka Banking Group and 35 partners.

Summary

The WEIF offers a platform for participants to exchange knowledge, share innovative best practices, leverage domestic and foreign direct investments, and to establish new partnerships in favor of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), with special focus in 2019 on innovative approaches afforded by the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR).

The world continues to face enormous investment gaps for the full implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the WEIF, which was first held in 2015, therefore continues to provide a unique platform in the MENA region to connect local, regional and global investors with entrepreneurs and start-ups, with an emphasis on youth and women, in order to develop partnerships and create joint initiatives for inclusive and sustainable development.

Achievements

Both events brought together an impressive 1,500 participants from 83 countries from around the globe, representing ministers, officials, dignitaries, experts, entrepreneurs, investors, NGOs, financial developmental funds, banks, academicians, support institutions and chambers. In addition, the event featured over 600 startups in various relevant sectors.

Entrepreneur to Entrepreneur bilateral meetings were organized on the margins of the event, allowing for high-level representatives and entrepreneurs to discuss investment and business opportunities during which 1000 bilateral meetings were held leading to 106 letters of intent being signed with an estimated investment of 22 million USD.

Manama Declaration

The 3rd series of the WEIF was launched in-line with the “Manama Declaration on Entrepreneurship and Development”, a set of recommendations derived from international experts and entrepreneurs during the First World Entrepreneurs Investment Forum in 2015, circulated during the 2015 United Nations General Assembly. The Declaration recommends establishing a permanent secretariat in Manama and to hold the WEIF event in Bahrain on a bi-annual basis.

We are here to continue the work outlined for us in the Manama Declaration, which calls upon governments, the private sector, academia, civil society, and international organizations to cooperate in facilitating the empowerment of entrepreneurs and SMEs around the world. The Declaration calls for cooperation in support of technology exchange and transfer, including innovation and capacity development programs for promoting entrepreneurship.

Participation & Engagement

The WEIF warranted international attention and was visited by prominent leaders from the region, including H.H. Shaikh Faisal bin Rashid bin Isa Al Khalifa, Vice President of the Supreme Council for Environment, Mr. Zayed R. Al Zayani, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Tourism of Bahrain, H.E. Yousef Bin Ibrahim Al Bassam, Chairman of the Board of Directors from the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa, H.E. Dr. Khaled Hanafy, Secretary-General of the Arab Union of Chambers, H.E. Mr. Aymen Tawfiq Almoayyed, Minister Youth and Sports Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain, H.E. Mr. Mohd Redzuan Md Yusof, Minister of Entrepreneur Development of Malaysia, H.E. Mr. Jibril Rajoub, Minister of Youth and Sports of the State of Palestine, H.E. Mr. M. Amadou Thiam, Minister of Institutional Reforms and Civil Society of the Republic of Mali.

His Excellency the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Antonio Guterres, conveyed a written statement to the WEIF that “the Fourth Industrial Revolution provides us with a tremendous opportunity. By leveraging emerging technologies with entrepreneurial spirit and investment, we can accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals. This is critical as we enter the Decade of Action to deliver the SDGs by 2030.”

UNIDO Managing Director Ms. Fatou Haidara emphasized in her opening remarks the need for more sustainability, inclusiveness and partnerships and the critical part that women and youth play in achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 SDGs. Furthermore, she highlighted the achievements of the UNIDO ITPO Bahrain office stating that “ITPO Bahrain successfully contributes to reducing development imbalances by brokering investment and technology agreements while fostering entrepreneurship in developing countries over 40 years.”

The UNIDO Goodwill Ambassador Ms. Veronika Peshkova attended the event and addressed the audience by highlighting the need to invest more in women’s economic empowerment and to ensure that gender equality is being implemented in all spheres of society.

WEIF 2019 Highlights

WEIF 2019 featured the Arab Entrepreneurship Rally 2019, an entrepreneurship competition for university students from the Arab Region, organized by the Arab Academy for Science and Technology and Maritime Transport, UNIDO ITPO Bahrain – AICEI, the Union of Arab Chambers, and the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BCCI).

Over 750 applications were received during the Rally, and 36 entrepreneurs got the chance to present their innovations and technologies to connect with investors and other potential business partners here in Bahrain. The teams were also exhibiting in the WEIF Smart Zone Expo and had the opportunity to pitch their innovative ideas to the event participants and investors with great success; The winning teams received $170,000 USD from Arab investors, in addition to the $100,000 prize money.

The final awarding ceremony announcing the top three teams from the Arab region was held in the presence of HE Mr. Ahmed Abou El Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States. The top 18 shortlisted teams received a 3-day intensive boot camp held at our offices in Bahrain prior to the event, aimed at developing their pitching skills and fine-tuning their business plans.

WEIF 2019 also featured The Gender Equality and Industrial Development Training Programme, a 2-day training course conducted by UNIDO Gender office ITPO / Arab International Center for Entrepreneurship & Investment in Bahrain, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the Bahrain Supreme Council for Women. The gender program equipped the participants with the skills to better analyze and design policies and programs to promote women’s economic empowerment. An award ceremony was held for the 33 participants, young women, and men from the MENA region.

Further highlights of the event included discussions around the need for an enhanced financial and educational inclusion of entrepreneurs in the context of the 4th Industrial Revolution as well as the need to better institutionalize innovations at the national, regional and global levels. A special focus was also given to SDG9 which calls to “build resilient infrastructure,
promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation” – the session stressed the importance of increasing investments in infrastructure, industrialization, and innovations around the globe, but especially in developing countries, including the MENA region and Africa.

Three high-level side events supplemented WEIF 2019, namely the “Young Business Hub Start-up Investment Summit”, aimed at exploring the means of further promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in the 56 member countries of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the “2nd International Conference on Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Investment: Role of Education and Universities”, which underlined the need for innovation and investment as well as fostering entrepreneurial spirits, and the event on “Sustainable Investments for Agenda 2030 – Investing in Green Industry” held under the patronage of the Supreme Council for Environment, represented by H.E. Dr. Mohamed Mubarak Bin Daina.

The closing session was held in the presence of HE Mr. Ahmed Abou El Gheit, Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, and concluded with a consensus that a more inclusive and sustainable environment for entrepreneurs, especially youth and women on the macro, miso and micro-level is key to achieve the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and that all stakeholders have to closely work together to ensure a successful implementation of structural change in favor of entrepreneurship and economic development – this call of action was summarized in the 3rd Manama Declaration and announced by myself, as Chief Executive of WEIF. The Declaration has been submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of Bahrain to receive the endorsement of the United Nations General Assembly.