The U.S. Government partnered with the United Arab Emirates on the third annual Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES), presented by Entrepreneurial Ventures of Arabia (EVA), held in Dubai on December 11-12, 2012.
The Summit provided an opportunity to link U.S. economic leadership with an encouraging trend towards entrepreneurship in Muslim-majority countries. The Summit aimed to amplify this trend, thereby stimulating high-growth entrepreneurship, private-sector job creation and financing.
The Summit also highlighted the U.S. Government’s enduring support for innovation and entrepreneurship through our many agencies and organizations dedicated to promoting sustainable growth, expanding trade, and improving the investment climate in the Middle East and North Africa, as well as throughout the world, to create greater opportunities for everyone.
In 2009, President Obama elevated entrepreneurship as a critical pillar of U.S. global engagement as a means to deepen ties between the U.S. and the international community. Since then, the U.S. Government has committed to supporting entrepreneurship to help channel the creativity, innovation, and potential of millions of individuals around the world to create economic opportunity.
The GES is the leading U.S. Government-supported forum for promoting economic growth through entrepreneurship. President Obama launched the GES in Washington, D.C. in 2010 to connect entrepreneurs, banks, venture capitalists, investors and others to catalyze partnerships, encourage growth and strengthen ties. In 2011, the second GES was held in Istanbul, Turkey, under the sponsorship of Prime Minister Erdogan, bringing together thousands from around the Middle East, South Asia, and the U.S.