During the “Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship” hosted by President Barack Obama in Washington, DC, in April 2010, it became clear that the seeds of entrepreneurship as an economic development policy and diplomatic tool had been planted. Today, I send in a quick report from the Second Global Summit on Entrepreneurship in Istanbul which has brought together approximately 1200 successful entrepreneurs and leaders from Turkey and across the world for idea sharing under the general theme of “Entrepreneurship, Values and Development: A Global Agenda”. Turkey’s Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan hosted the event and US Vice President Joe Biden spoke yesterday.
The Summit is a timely event for the region. Turkey has the potential to become a model for all Muslim countries as it grapples with quickly absorbing the renaissance underway in this region—namely in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen. It has a strong economy that has flourished in the post-2008 crash following strong fiscal discipline. However, while a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem is challenging anti-risk taking thinking and top-down planning, with more than 12 million youth aged 15-24 entering the workforce over the next five years, Turkey will need to create millions of new jobs in order to achieve a 70% employment rate.
To read the full, original article click on this link: Erdogans Play - Entrepreneurship.org
