Organized in France by the association Les Journées de l’Entrepreneur, the G20 YES Nice Côte d’Azur 2011 follows the editions of the G20 YES held in Toronto in June 2010 and in Seoul in November 2010.
The next G20 YES will take place in Mexico in 2012.
400 entrepreneurs from G20 countries, gathered in Nice for the international summit of the G20 Entrepreneurs, also called the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Summit (G20 YES), made an official appeal to the G20 Heads of State to make entrepreneurship a driving force of global economic renewal.
Through the voice of their President, Grégoire Sentilhes, the presidents of the G20 YES delegations reminded that entrepreneurship is an essential engine of innovation, growth, and employment in
both developed and developing countries, especially for the youth.
The G20 Entrepreneurs identified more than 200 measures currently in place that governments, associations, and the private sector have implemented to eliminate obstacles faced by entrepreneurs and to strengthen the three pillars that form the basis of dynamic entrepreneurship: fertile “ecosystems,” specific means for business financing at each stage of development, and a culture that encourages risk-taking and entrepreneurial spirit.
The G20 YES proposes that the G20 Heads of State recognize, in their final declaration, the importance and necessity of supporting entrepreneurship as a vital means to resolve the current economic crisis.
The G20 YES also proposes that the G20 Heads of State engage in a collaborative process with governments to develop an “Entrepreneur’s Declaration” as well as a concrete action plan to invigorate entrepreneurship in each and every G20 country.
-The “Entrepreneur’s Declaration” would be based on 5 fundamental principles:
- The G20 governments acknowledge the socioeconomic role of entrepreneurship, the need to encourage the next generation of entrepreneurs, and their role in job creation;
- The G20 governments declare their readiness to implement policies that support innovation, entrepreneurial spirit, and an entrepreneurial culture both nationally and internationally;
- These policies will rely not only on traditional capital resources but also on less conventional resources (e.g., private savings, public guarantees, notably from multilateral organizations) to support entrepreneurs who create or develop their businesses;
- These policies will take into account the unprecedented demographic and economic challenges facing our countries, such as youth unemployment;
- The proposed measures will encourage entrepreneurship within each and across all G20 countries without creating market distortion or unfair competition.
“The G20 Entrepreneurs propose that the G20 Heads of State immediately commence the process that will prepare an action plan in line with the principles of the Entrepreneur’s Declaration for the next G20 Heads of State Summit in Mexico. Until then, all the organizations supporting young entrepreneurs will work in concert with their country’s government and their peers within the B20, based on the established framework, to propose recommendations that can then be implemented,” said Grégoire Sentilhes.
-The G20 Entrepreneurs, or G20 YES (Young Entrepreneur Summit), is a 3-day international summit organized alongside the G20 Summit, bringing together in 20 delegations, 400 entrepreneurs aged 18 to 45, among the most iconic from G20 countries. The G20 YES summit is being held for the first time this year in France.
-The objectives of the G20 YES are:
• to place the entrepreneur, the economic and social model they embody, and the determinants of the entrepreneurial ecosystem at the heart of the reflections and concerns of the heads of state;
• to promote the key role of entrepreneurs in innovation, job creation, and growth;
• to enable entrepreneurs to share their experiences with leaders of the entrepreneurial ecosystem from the 20 most significant economies in the world;
• to highlight the driving role of young entrepreneurs in the entrepreneurial ecosystem and to be a source of concrete proposals in service of innovation, employment, and growth;
• to inspire current and future generations of entrepreneurs.
