The Investment, Enterprise and Development Commission,
Recognizing that entrepreneurship is one of the most important drivers of job creation and economic growth and is crucial for the development of a vibrant formal small and medium-sized business sector,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 67/202 on entrepreneurship for development and the importance of its implementation,
Taking note that entrepreneurship development requires a systemic approach and that Governments play an important role in promoting entrepreneurship and fostering an enabling environment in this regard,
Acknowledging the relevance and usefulness of the UNCTAD Entrepreneurship Policy Framework for the assessment, review and promotion of entrepreneurship policies in member States,
Recognizing that entrepreneurship policies have an important role in addressing issues related to youth employment, gender equality and women’s empowerment, inclusive and sustainable development and the broader post-2015 development agenda,
Acknowledging the development, relevance and impact of specific UNCTAD programmes and initiatives, such as the Empretec programme and its Women in Business Award, Business Linkages Programmes, the joint UNCTAD–Commonwealth Guiding Framework for Youth Entrepreneurship, and the ongoing collaboration projects with the Development Bank of Latin America, Inter-American Development Bank, Economic Commission for Africa, Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, African Development Bank, East African Community and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development,
- Expresses its satisfaction for the presentation by the secretariat of the most recent trends and policies in the area of investment and enterprise for development, and invites the secretariat to continue monitoring and reporting on those trends and their impact on development;
- Looks forward to the forthcoming release of the World Investment Report 2014, and requests that the findings of the report continue to be incorporated into the ongoing capacity-building work of UNCTAD and feed into the policy discussions of other relevant policymaking forums, including the UNCTAD World Investment Forum 2014, as well as be widely disseminated as a contribution to capacity-building and policy formulation, particularly in the context of the sustainable development goals;
- Recommends that the Entrepreneurship Policy Framework be widely disseminated as a contribution to assist policymakers with policy formulation as well as the provision of capacity-building;
- Encourages UNCTAD to continue and further enhance its cooperation on entrepreneurship programmes with other relevant international and regional organizations;
- Welcomes the development of youth-targeted entrepreneurship development strategies and the implementation of related capacity-building programmes;
- Commends the programme of Investment Policy Reviews, and congratulates Bangladesh, Mongolia and the Republic of Moldova for the successful completion of their reviews, and underlines the usefulness and the positive impact of the intergovernmental peer review process in this regard;
- Requests the secretariat to further promote the use of the Investment Policy Framework for Sustainable Development, including as an integral part of the Investment Policy Review and its follow-up mechanism, and strongly encourages partner countries and other donors in a position to do so to financially support the programme.
