THE PRESIDENTIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT AND

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 13 STATE 112468

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON EAID PREL SOCI XF XI ZR ZP CN PU
MV, SO
SUBJECT: THE PRESIDENTIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT AND
BEYOND

COUNTRIES WITH SIGNIFICANT MUSLIM COMMUNITIES--OIC "PLUS
16" LIST

FOR CHIEFS OF MISSION FROM THE SECRETARY





1. (U) SUMMARY: This is an action cable, see paragraphs
7, 8, 9, and 10. In the Presidents June 4 speech in
Cairo, he announced that he would host an
Entrepreneurship Summit within a year. The National
Security Council staff and the Domestic Policy Councils
Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation have
been leading an Interagency Team to implement the

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SUBJECT: THE PRESIDENTIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT AND
BEYO
Presidents vision for the Summit. The Summit will be
an unprecedented opportunity to highlight the importance
of fostering entrepreneurship focusing especially on
the connection between entrepreneurship and job creation
- in Muslim-majority countries (MMCs) and Muslim
communities around the world. It will also be an
important platform to highlight successful entrepreneurs
from these communities; to discuss the entrepreneurship
ecosystem including obstacles and ways they can be
overcome; to brainstorm how to expand the most
successful programs; and to build networks among
stakeholders in entrepreneurship. The Summit will also
emphasize the Presidents broader aims of supporting
entrepreneurship, innovation, and economic opportunity
at home and abroad. To make the most of this strategic
opportunity and the possibilities beyond, we request
that Posts/Missions take several important steps,
outlined below. END SUMMARY.

Global Muslim Engagement


2. (U) While the Presidents speech in Cairo included

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SUBJECT: THE PRESIDENTIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT AND
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specific action items, including a commitment to host an
Entrepreneurship Summit, the speech is much more than a
list of action items. The speech is most importantly
strategic guidance for how the U.S. Government will
engage MMCs, including their minority populations, and
Muslim communities around the world. The specific
action items mentioned in the speech should be
accomplished but the principles that those action items
exemplify should generally inform all of the USGs
programs, activities, and efforts concerning MMCs and
Muslim communities around the world. Specifically, the
President articulated a desire for a new beginning
whereby our relationship will be more comprehensive
(i.e. not defined largely by just one or two security or
political issues),based on mutual respect, and defined
by partnerships in areas of mutual interest. The
overarching strategic objective for this effort is for
the U.S. to work in a spirit of partnership to advance
opportunity, prosperity, and security in MMCs and Muslim
communities worldwide by addressing issues of paramount
concern to people in these communities, such as: job
creation, entrepreneurship, economic development,

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SUBJECT: THE PRESIDENTIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT AND
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education, exchanges, responsive governance, science and
technology, and health. Addressing the youth bulge and
the empowerment of women is a priority that should cut
across all of these areas.

The Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship


3. (U) One of the specific commitments the President
made in the Cairo speech as an example of his broader
commitment to a new beginning was to host a summit on
entrepreneurship. The Presidential Summit on
Entrepreneurship will bring together successful business
and social entrepreneurs, investors, academics,
technology developers, leaders of entrepreneurship
networks, non?profits, foundations, businesses, and
select government representatives who are invested in
advancing business and social entrepreneurship in MMCs
and Muslim communities around the world. The Summit
will take place in Washington, D.C. in the first quarter
of 2010. We anticipate inviting at least 150
participants from overseas. Participants will be
responsible for their own expenses; but there will be

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4. (U) Potential Topics. The Summit will take place
over two days in Washington, and the President will
deliver opening remarks. The Summit will include a
series of moderated discussions on key issues and
challenges for advancing entrepreneurship, job creation,
and economic opportunity including: enhancing access to
capital; creating and supporting entrepreneur networks;
promoting a culture of entrepreneurship; broadening
access to effective business development services;
promoting the education, training, and mentoring of
entrepreneurs; supporting and connecting social
entrepreneurs; collecting better market data and making
it broadly available; developing a policy environment
that supports entrepreneurship; and providing tools and
resources for expanding market access for entrepreneurs.
Women and youth issues will also be priority areas of
focus across the board. In addition to moderated
discussions, there will be networking opportunities for
participants.

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5. (U) Objectives of Summit. The Objectives for the
Summit are multi-fold. First, the Summit should inform,
inspire, and catalyze greater entrepreneurship in MMCs
and Muslim communities and elsewhere. It will do this
by emphasizing the importance of entrepreneurship to job
creation and expanding economic opportunity, and by
highlighting potential role-models who have been
innovative, pioneering and effective as entrepreneurs
themselves or in expanding opportunities for
entrepreneurship. Second, the Summit will help
participants (and those able to view the Summit via
webcast or broadcast) to identify ways of scaling
effective approaches to entrepreneurship and to address
obstacles by bringing together stakeholders who are
knowledgeable, effective, and successful. Third, the
Summit will be an opportunity to build and expand
global, regional, and local entrepreneurship networks.
Finally, we hope the Summit will serve as a catalyst for
other stakeholders including other governments as well
as for-profit and non-profit actors to potentially
announce commitments related to supporting

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SUBJECT: THE PRESIDENTIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT AND
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entrepreneurship, job creation, and economic
opportunity. For instance, we hope that this Summit
will lead others to hold regional conferences built on
the same guiding principles and objectives as the Summit
and to make progress on the goals expressed by
participants at the Presidential Summit. Ideally, in the
long-term, the Summit and follow-on processes will
result in scaled and sustainable support systems for
entrepreneurs that will enable them to produce the jobs
needed to provide meaningful economic opportunity for
the next generation.


6. (SBU) USG Role in Summit and Follow-through Process.
In all of the efforts pertaining to the Summit and the
follow through on these objectives, clear articulation
of the role of USG as a convener, catalyst, and platform
for engagement is paramount. It will only be through
partnerships and locally-driven initiatives that the USG
can play a productive role in expanding entrepreneurship
opportunities and making them more self-sustaining in
MMCs and Muslim communities. As such, Washington will
aim to do our part to be responsive and to empower you

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7. (U) On that note, we want to acknowledge and thank
Posts/Missions for their outstanding cables providing
input to Washington following the Presidents Cairo
speech. Those cables have helped to inform both our
thinking on the Entrepreneurship Summit, as well as our
broader emphasis on entrepreneurship, job creation and
economic opportunity. Please note, a subsequent cable
will provide a more comprehensive account of how those
earlier cables are informing our work here in
Washington.

Economic Opportunity Working Groups


8. (SBU) ACTION: Chiefs of Mission are requested to
establish and maintain an interagency working group on
expanding economic opportunity. (If Post feels it does
not have the capacity to do this, it should contact its
regional bureau, who can work with S/P to devise an
alternative arrangement.) Expanding economic
opportunity will be a top priority in the Presidents

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SUBJECT: THE PRESIDENTIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT AND
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vision for a New Beginning with MMCs and Muslim
communities. There will be an on-going, multi-year
effort to partner with local stakeholders to advance
economic opportunity, job creation, and
entrepreneurship. The request to establish working
groups on expanding economic opportunity reflects the
recognition that many different Country Team elements
have a role to play in this issue, and these working
groups should serve as a mechanism for: integrating,
coordinating, and leveraging the tools, capabilities,
programs, and activities of all relevant Country Team
members; creating and managing partnerships that advance
economic opportunity, with particular emphasis on
identifying, supporting, and empowering the most
effective local stakeholders; executing the Presidents
initiatives in this area and ensuring that existing
efforts in this area reflect the principles put forward
in the Cairo speech; ensuring local stakeholders and
communities are engaged and informed about the work
being done.


9. (SBU) ACTION (cont.): Posts/Missions should submit a

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list of their 10 top nominees to attend the Presidential
Summit on Entrepreneurship in Washington. These should
be inspiring, pioneering, effective, high-potential
stakeholders in business and social entrepreneurship;
they should be role models for others. The list of 10
should be diverse: well-known and not well-known; big,
small, and medium enterprises; and there should be a few
submissions that do not fall under the usual suspect
category. For instance, the list should also include
new economy entrepreneurs, e.g. technology entrepreneurs
where possible. These lists should be submitted no
later than November 30, along with approximately one
page including background and the justification
supporting the nomination (as well as any other
supporting documentation Post/Missions may wish to
submit) for each nominee. (POC: Greg Behrman, S/P).


10. (SBU) ACTION (cont.): Each Post/Mission is
requested to conduct a Roundtable (ideally hosted by the
Chief of Mission) or a series of Roundtables in December
to engage key stakeholders in entrepreneurship and
economic opportunity; the Entrepreneurship Summit, our

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SUBJECT: THE PRESIDENTIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP SUMMIT AND
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aims for the Summit and to solicit input as to how we
can achieve those aims; and, to explore the potential
for partnerships in advancing entrepreneurship, economic
opportunity, and job creation more generally.
Posts/Missions should seek to facilitate networking
among local attendees. Second, Ambassadors are
requested to reach out individually to stakeholders
(investors, business leaders, government officials,
Foundation and NGO heads, etc) who they feel can be
high-impact partners and solicit their thoughts, and to
cultivate them as partners. Posts/Missions are asked to
send a summary of the Roundtables and other related
engagement efforts to Washington NLT December 28
(Attention: S/P - Greg Behrman, S/SRMC Karen Chandler,
and R - Sehreen Noor-Ali).


11. (U) ACTION (cont.): Each Post/Mission is asked to
provide a summary of proposed public diplomacy
activities for the Summit and for lead-up and related
activities. Please submit to Washington by November 30.
Each Post/Mission is also requested to profile as
appropriate Post/Mission efforts to advance local

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entrepreneurship and economic opportunity and to
highlight programs and activities for which
entrepreneurs and stakeholders in advancing
entrepreneurship may be eligible. (Attention: S/P -
Greg Behrman, R - Sehreen Noor-Ali).


12. (SBU) As noted, the Summit is part of a process.
Follow-up will ideally include regional and sub-regional
conferences, which we hope will be hosted by other
governments or leading local institutions.
Posts/Missions should begin thinking about public or
private sector partners (educational institutions, NGOs,
Foundations, etc) who can serve as hosts for future
conferences, which will offer opportunities for engaging
the issues and goals addressed at the Summit with
regional specificity and with a larger and more
inclusive set of stakeholders.

Conclusion


13. (SBU) This Summit will be a singular and
unprecedented opportunity to demonstrate that the United

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States wishes to be a partner in advancing economic
opportunity around the world, including in MMCs and in
Muslim communities. It will be an extraordinary
opportunity to profile leaders and pioneers who can
build the future that we all seek, to create a global
network of stakeholders in entrepreneurship, and to
inspire others to support them and to follow their
example. Your efforts per the ACTION items in this
cable will enable us to maximize the strategic benefits
from the Summit and will be instrumental in realizing
the Presidents vision for a New Beginning based on
mutual respect and the pursuit of partnership in areas
of mutual interest. We are deeply grateful for your
efforts. Thank you.


14. (U) Minimize considered.
CLINTON