Activities of the “Global Entrepreneurship Week”, an initiative of Kauffman Foundation, have kicked off in Bahrain.

The event, which is held for the first time in the Middle East region, is organized by O2 Marketing  Communications with the aim of encouraging the youth to express their ideas and present their initiatives and support them to materialise their dreams, said a statement.

It is co-sponsored by IBM, Ernst and Young, and NYSE, with Al Waqt newspaper as an official media partner and TradeArabia as an online partner. It is hosted by AMA University in Manama.

Activities of the 'Global Entrepreneurship Week' include the gathering of students from all over the world to present their innovative ideas and creative initiatives and to discuss them with their peers.

They seek to benefit from the expertise of elite of prominent business leaders and experts and famous businessmen who will provide advice and give guidelines on how to change these ideas into reality, the statement said.

Additionally, the 'Global Entrepreneurship Week' will include 11,000 activities that will be launched around the world. Seventy countries will take part in this event, while the Arab world participation will be restricted to two States: Bahrain and Morocco.

Efforts will not be limited to the organization of the 'Global Entrepreneurship Week', but they will continue to support young business leaders. Therefore, a meeting will be held in the US in March 2009 to assess the outcome and make proper decisions.

In his speech at the beginning of the launch ceremony, Mohammed Al Johmani, managing director of O2 Marketing Communications, said: 'This gathering aims at adopting the creative ideas of the youth who are under 30 years, those who have not had the chance to materialise their ideas. It also offers opportunity for the youth from all over the world to meet, exchange ideas and mix with other cultures.'

'Providing the youth with the opportunities to establish their entreprises and to tap the business sector demands, uniting the efforts of all government and non-government organizations in the fields of education, business and media,’’ said Al Johmani.

He lauded the Young Arab Leaders Organisation's support of the 'Global Entrepreneurship Week'.

Jonathan Ortmans, senior fellow at Kauffman Foundation, the initiator of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, lauded the pivotal role played by O2 Marketing Communications to organise this prominent global event which is held in Bahrain and launched at the same time in 70 countries around the world.

Ortmans said private organisations have an exceptional chance to contribute to the prosperity of the human race and to encourage the youth to enter the business world. He highlighted the leading role played by Kauffman Foundation and its vast experience that extend to more than 15 years in supporting entrepreneurs in the world.

Ayman Al Ajmi, general manager of AIG of Bahrain, discussed the main obstacles faced by Arab business leaders and ways of overcoming them.

He stressed the importance of the concerted efforts of private and public organisations to support Arab business leaders to establish themselves and prove their ability to serve their communities first and then to achieve universality and act as ambassadors of their countries on the global arena. –TradeArabia News Service