U.S. Department of State

Several overseas institutions and partners have expressed an interest in hosting Follow-on Conferences to continue to advance the mission of the Entrepreneurship Summit beyond the April 26 and 27 PSE in Washington. These Follow-on Conferences will be locally or regionally focused and may focus on a specific element of advancing entrepreneurship (e.g. youth entrepreneurship, access to capital, etc.) We have told these partners that we want to be supportive of these events and acknowledge them at the Summit. We have said that we would attempt to have an appropriate USG official attend, but that we would not play any role in organizing them and would not expect to provide any funding assistance.

These Conferences have been initiated by partners who are heeding the President’s call to shared action and responsibility. Through their initiative, they will help to advance what the United States and its partners on the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship have started. We have received Statements of Intent for the following Follow-on Conferences:

• UAE/Abu Dhabi: The Aspen Institute and the government of the UAE will host a Conference in Abu Dhabi in June 2010 on Innovation.
• Iraq: The American University of Iraq-Sulaimani will host a conference on Social Entrepreneurship in Sulaimani, Iraq in Spring 2011.
• Algeria: The U.S.-Algerian Business Council will host a Conference in Algeria on entrepreneurship in the Maghreb in September 2010.
• Bahrain: The government of Bahrain will host a Conference on innovation, investment and entrepreneurship in December 2010.
• France: The French-American Foundation has committed to host a Conference on youth entrepreneurship in disadvantaged communities late in 2010 or early in 2011.
• Kyrgyzstan: The American University of Central Asia, with some Department of State support, will host a Conference on Women Entrepreneurship in Bishkek in May 2010.
• UAE/Dubai: The Legatum Institute at MIT and the Dubai School of Government are hosting a Conference in Dubai on “Best Practices in Entrepreneurship Policy” in November 2010.