US Delegation to G20 YES Urge World Leaders to Put Youth Entrepreneurship at Top of Economic Agenda

ALEXANDRIA, VA (12 June 2012) – The Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO), the most influential global network of business owners, sent a delegation of 16 US business owners to join more than 400 young entrepreneurs from the G20 countries at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Summit (G20 YES) in Mexico City, June 2-5. The Summit concluded with the signing of a communiqué calling upon the G20 Leaders to focus on entrepreneurship as an answer youth unemployment and slow economic growth. This communiqué was handed over directly to Mexican President Felipe Calderón, who agreed to present it to heads of state when he hosts the G20 Leaders Summit on June 17-18.

The communiqué identified five key actions that would provide the drivers for inclusive economic growth, innovation, job creation and social cohesion:

• Creating a continuum of traditional and innovative funding sources with incentives through all stages of business growth;
• Increasing access to simplified information and integrated youth enterprise support with b knowledge and skills infrastructure;
• Promoting a collaborative environment across private and public sectors, civil society and academia, that enables young entrepreneurs to start, grow, learn and have a second chance in business, within their countries and internationally;
• Minimizing regulatory and tax barriers for start-up and early-stage businesses to reduce costs and increase efficiencies;
• Fostering a stronger youth entrepreneurship culture through promoting and teaching entrepreneurship and raising awareness.

The communiqué concluded by stating that the G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance will work with their respective governments to help ensure young entrepreneurs and their businesses play a role in being the architects of the 21st century.

Kevin Langley, EO Global Chairman and President of the US Delegation said, “Unemployment is a global problem today, with estimates that 1.3 billion people entering the job market over the next 5-7 years. Entrepreneurial companies create the jobs that will fuel the economic recovery and lift us out of the global recession.”

EO, with 8000 members in 40 countries, offers programs to support entrepreneurs through all stages of their development.  These include, the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards (GSEA) – the largest worldwide entrepreneur competition for students still in university and the Accelerator Program that helps rapidly growing business owners to reach their $1M revenue goal. 

The next G20 YEA Leadership Assembly will be taking place in Berlin, Germany in October of this year, bringing together entrepreneurs to determine how youth-based enterprises can help provide a long-term solution to the current Eurozone crisis.

G20 Young Entrepreneurs’’ Alliance (G20 YEA)
The G20 Young Entrepreneurs’’ Alliance is a collective of leading entrepreneurially-minded organizations representing the G20 countries who seek to promote youth entrepreneurship as a powerful driver of economic renewal, job creation, innovation and social change. The Alliance was founded as a movement to engage the G20 leaders in the cause of youth entrepreneurship, share information across borders, affect positive change and create a global network of young entrepreneur advocates, while building a collaborative entrepreneurial environment worldwide. The next G20YES will be taking place in St Petersburg, Russia in 2013. For more information, visit www.g20yea.com  

G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit (G20 YES) – Mexico
The G20 Young Entrepreneur Summit Mexico is a gathering of young entrepreneurs (age 18 – 40) and entrepreneurship-focused organizations from the G20 countries. Hosted by COPAMREX, it provides valuable input to government leaders to assist in driving sustainable global economic growth, exchange ideas and to foster international partnerships and collaboration. The G20 YES is an official program of the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance. For more information, visit www.g20yes.com

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