EMPRETEC Africa Forum created to bolster, expandenterprise activities on continent
Directors of UNCTAD´s EMPRETEC programme for fostering entrepreneurship in developing countries and economies in transition concluded a meeting in Geneva (1-3 November) with news of the establishment of an "EMPRETEC Africa Forum" and ambitious plans for strengthening existing programmes, developing new products, and working closely with UNCTAD on a strategy for setting up new and viable programmes, especially in Asia.
EMPRETEC is a capacity-building programme intended to promote the creation of support structures for small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries and countries with economies in transition. Small and midsize firms, the products they sell, and the employment they generate are considered vital for broadbased economic growth and rising living standards. This month´s meeting was the largest gathering to date of EMPRETEC Directors. UNCTAD currently supports 27 country programmes in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Central and Eastern Europe.
UNCTAD Deputy Secretary-General Dirk J. Bruinsma, in an opening address, stressed that entrepreneurship development is essential for building productive capacities in developing countries and therefore should be a key element of the Aid-for-Trade initiative. Aid-for-Trade is an initiative launched by WTO to help developing countries, particularly least-developed countries (LDCs), to build, among other things, supply-side capacity and trade-related infrastructure to facilitate their access to markets and to export more as well as to promote growth, development and poverty reduction.
African EMPRETEC representatives launched their regional networking initiative, the EMPRETEC Africa Forum, to reinvigorate the EMPRETEC programme in Africa. Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and Uganda will be taking the lead and will strategize with colleagues from the continent on the best ways to mobilize resources, establish an effective communication and marketing strategy, and ensure the consolidation of existing programmes and the creation of new country programmes in Africa with the support of UNCTAD.
Piero Formica of Sweden, Dean of the International Entrepreneurship Academy, delivered an address on promoting entrepreneurship worldwide and underlined the importance of strengthening ties between academia and entrepreneurs.
