MANAMA: More than 45 activities that attracted over 5,000 participants marked the fourth edition of the Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW 2019) organised by Tamkeen and the Global Entrepreneurship Network – Bahrain (GEN Bahrain).
The event was held from November 17 to 24 all around the country, with a variety of workshops, seminars, exhibitions, conferences and interactive panels, held in partnership with more than 40 local and regional entities.
Over 45 local and regional speakers from different areas of expertise, including entrepreneurs, influencers and economists shared their experiences and entrepreneurial journeys with the audience.
This year, GEW was held under four main themes: Education, Policy, Inclusion and Ecosystems.
The first event in GEW 2019 was the 18th Annual Arab Business Owners and Investors Conference, organised by the Bahrain Chamber of Commerce and Industry and held under the patronage of His Majesty King Hamad.
On His Majesty’s behalf, His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Khalifa, Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister, inaugurated the conference.
Tenmou, Bahrain’s first Business angels company, also hosted their eighth edition of the Mena Angels Investors Summit during GEW.
The annual event is held with the aim of providing a platform for local and regional startups to meet and connect with investors from all around the Mena region.
Moreover, Zoho hosted their first Zoholic event in the country during GEW where participants learned more about Zoho’s products and services, and how they can use the cloud software suite to grow their businesses.
For the second year in a row, Tamkeen hosted the entrepreneur and social media influencer Bader Isa, known as ‘Bo Nabeel’, who delivered a seminar on ‘How to Find Your Passion’, a follow up event to the one he conducted last year.
During the seminar, Bo Nabeel spoke about his entrepreneurial journey, and shared some tips with the audience on how they can turn their passion into a successful business.
The weekend featured two events including the FinTech Startup Weekend competition where participants had to form teams and build a startup within 54 hours.
The second event was Falak Consulting’s “Unreasonable Weekend”, which was dedicated to aspiring entrepreneurs who are interested in turning their business ideas into reality.
The startup ecosystem was also exposed to a number of events and workshops in the field of art, energy, sustainability, product design, artificial intelligence, digital marketing, fintech and more.
What made GEW more extraordinary this year was the emphasis of women as Flat6Labs Bahrain hosted a seminar called ‘Women in Startups’.
The seminar gave an overview on entrepreneurship and encouraged women to consider the entrepreneurial path for their future career.
In addition, this year’s GEW focused on encouraging young Bahrainis to pursue their careers in entrepreneurship. For instance, the Capital Governorate held a Young Trader competition, whereby children had the chance to participate in an exhibition in Seef Mall and showcase their products.
Clever Play also hosted ‘Kids Who Startup,’ a competition that allowed children to form their teams, work on a business idea, and present their projects.
Bahrain Trust Foundation gave a workshop on ‘Preparing Young Entrepreneurs’.
The GEW is a global event where more than 35,000 events are held around the world in more than 170 countries, with 10 million attendees.
It is held under the umbrella of the Global Entrepreneurship Network and supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
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