UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe

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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