Senate President Christian
Poncelet to address the UNECE Forum on
Entrepreneurship
at the Palais des Nations,
Geneva on 10 February 2005
Geneva, 25 January
2005 - Mr. Christian Poncelet, President
of the Senate of the French Republic and
a leading advocate of entrepreneurship
and venture capital for economic growth
in Europe, will address senior UNECE Government
officials and corporate executives on
the occasion of the UNECE Forum on Entrepreneurship,
to be held at the Palais des Nations,
Geneva, on 10 February 2005.
Mr. Poncelet, who has
been the President of the Senate since
1998, has played a key role in fostering
the creation of a favourable political
and regulatory framework for entrepreneurship
and venture capital in Europe, and in
France in particular. He is among those
European leaders with a clear vision of
the role of entrepreneurship in modern
society. He has been a strong proponent
of the key role that entrepreneurship
can play in increasing productivity, job
creation and economic growth.
Mr. Poncelet has held
distinguished political posts in France
and Europe, including Minister for Social
Affairs and Minister for Public Service
in the Messmer cabinet, Minister for Budget
in the Chirac and Barre cabinets, as well
as President of the Commission for Finance,
Budget Control and Economic Accounts of
the Nation in the Senate from 1986 to
1998.
The address of President
Poncelet at the UNECE Forum on Entrepreneurship
comes at a time when several key challenges
continue to perturb the relatively favourable
economic development in the UNECE region.
One such challenge is the creation of
favourable conditions for sufficiently
strong economic growth coupled with robust
employment growth and reasonable salaries
and wages. Expected rates of economic
growth coupled with the ongoing corporate
and industrial restructuring to take advantage
of the lowest-cost production locations
are likely not to be sufficient to absorb
the available labour force in developed
and emerging market economies. This inadequate
employment creation concerns equally unskilled
and highly skilled workers.
There is evidence to
suggest that a renewed focus on entrepreneurship
could alleviate this problem. With appropriate
programmes including a suitable legal,
regulatory and tax framework, entrepreneurship
could bring about a spur in inventions
and innovations, create new wealth, provide
new jobs in particular for highly skilled
workers and strengthen democratic trends.
In addition, it could be an important
outlet for the middle-skilled and low-skilled
labour force pursuing “the necessity
path” in entrepreneurship. Finally,
it could be a driving force not only in
promoting structural changes but also
in opening new growth avenues, which would
contribute to raising rates of economic
growth, productivity and employment in
the UNECE region.
It is within the aforementioned
framework that the UNECE Forum on Entrepreneurship
will take place. It will feature selected
prominent senior government officials
and top corporate executives such as Mr.
Mario Cardullo, Counsellor for Entrepreneurship
and Technology, Office of the Under Secretary,
International Trade Administration, U.S.
Department of Commerce, Washington DC;
Mr. Jonathan Ortmans, Director, Kauffman
Commission on Global Entrepreneurship,
Kansas City, USA; Ms. Elizabeth Wahab,
Chief Operating Officer, the Goldman Sachs
Foundation, New York; Mr. Michael Caslin
III, Chief Executive Officer, The National
Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship,
New York; Mr. Herman Daems, Chairman,
European Capital Venture Association,
Brussels, Belgium; Mr. Victor Sedov, Executive
Director, The US Russia Center for Entrepreneurship,
Moscow; Mr. Stephen Brenninkmeyer, CEO,
Andromeda Fund BV, London; and Mr. David
Frost, Director General, British Chamber
of Commerce, London.
The Forum opens at 10:00
a.m. in Salle VII.
For more information please contact:
Mr. Sead Vilogorac
Industrial Restructuring, Energy
and Enterprise Development Division
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41(0)22 917 2462
Fax: +41(0)22 917 0178
E-mail: [email protected]
|
Ms. Marina Dolgova
Industrial Restructuring, Energy
and Enterprise Development Division
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe (UNECE)
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41(0)22 917 1964
Fax: +41(0)22 917 0178
E-mail: [email protected]
|
Web site: http://www.unece.org/ie/wp8/documents/documents06.htm
Ref. ECE/IREEDD/05/P01