Global Entrepreneurship Congress aims to inspire entrepreneurship among young people
A major conference coming to Liverpool next year will aim to "light the candles of entrepreneurship" for the city region's young people.
In March next year, 500 people from more than 100 countries will converge on Liverpool for the week-long Global Entrepreneurship Congress.
The event is being staged by the US-based Kauffman Foundation which chose Liverpool after a strong lobbying by economic development agency, Liverpool Vision. It had to compete with cities across the world to win the conference.
In the last few days Jonathan Ortmans from the Kauffman Foundation has been to Merseyside to meet with business and political leaders.
Mr Ortmans told LDP Business that one of the key aims of the event was to convince young people across the city region that they can become entrepreneurs.
He said: "I believe we can have a real impact here in Liverpool.
"We can light the candles of entrepreneurship for the young generation and create something new here.
"Entrepreneurs don't come from business schools.
"I call it the 'Ocean's 11' concept. We need players who can do different things.
"Anyone who has confidence and support and who can approach a problem in a different way can be an entrepreneur.
"It is not just about people designing new websites – it is much broader than that. I regard the Beatles as being entrepreneurs."
- In March 2009, the Kauffman Foundation brought together the host organisations from nearly 60 nations to create the first ever Global Entrepreneurship Congress at its headquarters in Kansas City. One year later, the Congress convened in Dubai with more than 90 countries represented and an all-star lineup of speakers including Prime Minister H.E. Nika Gilauri of Georgia; Sarah Ferguson, The Duchess of York; Carl Schramm, President & CEO, Kauffman Foundation; Hartmut Ostrowski, Chairman & CEO, Bertelsmann AG; Sun Young Kang, the former Foreign Minister of Korea; Suhas Gopinath, CEO & President, Globals Inc.; and, Tom Scott, co-founder of Nantucket Nectars. In 2011, global leaders, entrepreneurs and intermediary organizations from more than 100 countries participated in the Global Entrepreneurship Congress, co-hosted by the Kauffman Foundation and the Entrepreneurship Foundation for Graduates in Shanghai, China.
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