Egyptian Minister of International Cooperation Dr. Sahar Nasr to Speak at ICSB 2016

Egypt has been at the center of world events for centuries. If your job were to strengthen Egypt’s economic ties with the international community, where would you start? Since September of 2015, that has been the question that Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation, Dr. Sahar Nasr, has had to answer.

About the Ministry of International Cooperation

The Ministry’s mission is to develop and support economic cooperation between Egypt and other countries, as well as with international and regional organizations. It also “advises the government on the standards and regulations for external borrowing and the receiving of foreign grants, reviews the disbursements and repayments of local borrowers in addition to the disbursements of beneficiaries from foreign grants. . .to ensure the achievement of economic development.”

About Dr. Sahar Nasr

Dr. Sahar Nasr is a professor of Economics at the American University in Cairo and a lecturer at several other universities. Since taking on the role of Minister of International Cooperation, her focus has been strengthening Egypt’s relationships with its international partners, as well as building new relationships with other countries and international organizations in Africa and Asia. In addition, Dr. Nasr heads the National Committee for the Follow-Up on the Implementation of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals.

“My aim is to forge more partnerships with the international community and to mobilize resources with the objective of achieving inclusive and sustainable economic growth,” Dr. Nasr said upon taking her position as Minister. “Job creation, especially for youth and women, is on the top of my agenda. Supporting lagging regions and enhancing access to markets is key in that regard.”

About ICSB 2016

Founded in 1955, the International Council for Small Business (ICSB) was the first international membership organization to promote the growth and development of small businesses worldwide. The organization brings together educators, researchers, policy-makers and practitioners from around the world to share knowledge and expertise in their respective fields. Each year, ICSB members and affiliates come together to discuss relevant issues and share information at conferences all around the world.

This year, the ICSB World Conference will take place at multiple locations in New York and New Jersey. The conference kicks off at United Nations Headquarters on June 16, and then moves to the Stevens Institute of Technology on June 17 and 18. Registration is open to the public, but limited and expected to sell out. ICSB 2016 will focus on the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in advancing the UN New Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information about the conference, or to secure your seat, please click here or visit the ICSB’s website at http://ICSB.org/.

What is the annual ICSB Doctoral Consortium?

Each year, the ICSB World Conference hosts a pre-conference Doctoral Consortium. At the Consortium, doctoral candidates in the field of small business and entrepreneurship can present their research, receive feedback on their scholarship, and meet experienced faculty.

The Doctoral Consortium also provides new researchers and more advanced scholars with an opportunity to share their ideas and experience. The Consortium offers doctoral candidates a chance to network with people in their field.

ICSB Doctoral Consortium FAQ

When does the Doctoral Consortium take place?

The Consortium is on June 15 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, the day before ICSB 2016 begins.

Where is the Doctoral Consortium happening?

The Consortium will be located at the Stevens Institute of Technology, at 1 Castle Point Terrace in Hoboken, NJ.

Who are the students who participate in the Consortium?

As many as twenty doctoral candidates are chosen to attend the Consortium. Attendees are chosen from applicants who are in the advanced study of entrepreneurship, and who intend to pursue an academic career. Students from across the globe are encouraged to apply.

How can I apply to attend the ICSB Doctoral Consortium?

The application deadline for this year has passed, but please consider applying next year.

Are doctoral students eligible for a discount to the full conference?

They are. The conference fee for doctoral students is only $575 and includes access to all conference sessions, the welcome reception, coffee breaks and buffet lunch during conference days, and the gala dinner.

About ICSB 2016

This year, the ICSB World Conference will take place at multiple locations in New York and New Jersey. On June 16, we will be at United Nations headquarters, and then we will move to the Stevens Institute of Technology on June 17 and 18. Registration is open to the public, but it is limited and expected to sell out. ICSB 2016 will focus on the role of entrepreneurship and innovation in advancing the UN New Sustainable Development Goals.

For more information about the conference, or to secure your seat, please click here, or here if you are a doctoral candidate.

ICSB 2016: United Nations in Depth – Sustainable Development

In September of 2015, the United Nations adopted seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs aim to ensure that global development in the next 15 years is socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable. These goals were unanimously adopted by the UN’s 193 member states.

While entrepreneurship has a role to play in many of the goals, it has a particular impact on Goal 8: “Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.”

Goal 8 Facts

  • Global unemployment increased by nearly 19% between 2007 and 2012, from 170 million to nearly 202 million. 75 million of the unemployed are young people.
  • Nearly 2.2 billion people live on less than $2 a day.
  • Businesses and governments will need to create 470 million jobs for new entrants into the job market by 2030.

Goal 8 Targets

Goal 8 has an aggressive target of achieving full global employment by 2030. In the nearer term, Goal 8 aims to “reduce the proportion of youth not in employment, education or training” by 2020. Another target for goal 8 is to promote entrepreneurship and innovation “and encourage the formalization and growth of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises, including through access to financial services.”

How do SMEs affect Goal 8?

If the UN is to come close to achieving the objectives laid out in its Sustainable Development Goals, it will need help from the private sector. According to the World Bank:

Formal SMEs contribute up to 45 percent of total employment and up to 33 percent of national income (GDP) in emerging economies. These numbers are significantly higher when informal SMEs are included.
SMEs will be a critical factor in whether the world can attain full employment by 2030.

ICSB 2016 at the UN

ICSB 2016 gets its start at United Nations headquarters on Thursday, June 16. Our first conference session will address the role of SMEs in helping the world achieve the UN SDGs, including Goal 8.

ICSB 2016 invites you to join us at the UN and at our subsequent sessions and events at the Stevens Institute of Technology. Register today to secure your seat at the conference.

ICSB 2016: What are the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals?

As the ICSB World Conference opens on June 15th at the United Nations in New York, we take a quick look at a topic that is of major interest to entrepreneurs and business researchers alike.

Last year, the United Nations set its global agenda for the next 15 years by adopting a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The purpose of the SDGs is to ensure that global development in the coming years is socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable. These goals were unanimously adopted by the UN’s 193 member states.

17 Goals for Sustainable Development

According to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, “the 17 Sustainable Development Goals are our shared vision of humanity and a social contract between the world’s leaders and the people. They are a to-do list for people and planet, and a blueprint for success.” The goals are:

  1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere.
  2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture.
  3. Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
  4. Ensure inclusive and quality education for all and promote lifelong learning.
  5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
  6. Ensure access to water and sanitation for all.
  7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all.
  8. Promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all.
  9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote sustainable industrialization and foster innovation.
  10. Reduce inequality within and among countries.
  11. Make cities inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
  12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.
  13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.
  14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.
  15. Sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, halt and reverse land degradation, halt biodiversity loss.
  16. Promote just, peaceful and inclusive societies.
  17. Revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development.

ICSB 2016 at the United Nations

ICSB 2016 gets its start at United Nations headquarters on Thursday, June 16. Our first conference session will address the role of SMEs in helping the world achieve these SDGs.

ICSB 2016 invites you to join us at the UN and at our subsequent sessions and events at the Stevens Institute of Technology. Register today to secure your seat at the conference.

Egypt and ICSB and the Connection to the Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World; French: La Liberté éclairant le monde) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor in New York City, in the United States. The copper statue, designed by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, a French sculptor, was built by Gustave Eiffel and dedicated on October 28, 1886. It was a gift to the United States from the people of France.

Yet, if you review history carefully there is an Egyptian connection. In the late 1860s, Bartholdi approached Isma’il Pasha, Khedive of Egypt, with a plan to build a huge lighthouse in the form of an ancient Egyptian female fellah or peasant, robed and holding a torch aloft, at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal in Port Said.

Sketches and models were made of the proposed work, though it was never erected. There was a classical precedent for the Suez proposal, the Colossus of Rhodes: an ancient bronze statue of the Greek god of the sun, Helios. This statue is believed to have been over 100 feet (30 m) high, and it similarly stood at a harbor entrance and carried a light to guide ships.

Yet, this idea never continued due to Franco-Prussian war.

With this history in mind, ICSB Egypt (aka Maksaby) under the Presidency of Ahmed Osman worked closely with the ICSB International Office to support the ICSB World Conference. We are proud to announce that Tatweer Misr will be sponsoring the ICSB Opening Reception on Wednesday, June 15th.

Tatweer Misr, established in 2014, is an Egyptian shareholding real estate company, that capitalizes on a wealth of industrial and real estate experience. The unique vision of Tatweer Misr in the development of real estate projects focuses on building upon and assimilating the stunning natural environments of the areas in which they are located. Perfect for Egypt.

We also welcome Dr. Ahmed Mohamed Shalaby, Managing Director & Board Member, Tatweer Misr. Dr. Shalaby is also a Professor of Architecture and Urban Development at the Department of Architectural Engineering at Cairo University, Egypt. He received his Ph.D from Cornell University.

Please join us to welcome Tatweer Misr to ICSB and we hope they build an Egyptian Statue of Lights!

To learn more about TatweerMisr: http://www.tatweermisr.com/

Thank you Maksaby and TatweerMisr and see you soon!

ICSB

ICSB 2016 Kicks Off at the United Nations on June 16

When is the last time you attended a conference that opened at the United Nations headquarters in New York City? It’s an opportunity that not many people get. You won’t want to miss out on your chance this year.

The 61st Annual International Council of Small Business World Conference kicks off at the United Nations on Thursday, June 16. We are proud to announce an impressive lineup of speakers for that morning, including:

  • Dr. Ayman El Tarabishy, Executive Director, International Conference for Small Business
  • Dr. Ki-Chan Kim, President, International Conference for Small Business
  • Ambassador Oh Joon, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Republic of Korea to the United Nations and President of the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC)
  • Ms. Lise Kingo, Executive Director, UN Global Compact
  • Mr. Naquib Sawiris, Chairman of the Board of Orascom TMT Investments

The June 16 schedule continues with our first session, SME Ministerial Panel Session for the Role of SMEs in Achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Lunch is followed by UN media briefings (by invitation only), and then sessions two and three, Engaging SME’s for Growth and Prosperity and Humane Entrepreneurship – A Global Perspective. We will wrap up the day with ICSB Presidential Awards and a VIP dinner (again by invitation).

The United Nations was founded in 1945 with the mission to maintain international peace and security and to solve international problems through cooperation between its 193 member states. Countless international luminaries have spoken at the United Nations, including presidents, prime ministers, and religious leaders.

ICSB 2016 invites you to join us at the United Nations and at our subsequent sessions and events at the Stevens Institute of Technology.

Register today to secure your seat at the conference.