With more than 30 events over seven days, involving over 2,000 participants from Belarus and beyond, businesses in Belarus are gearing up for the busiest week of the year, Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW) 2017, with activities planned across the country from 13-19 November.
GEW is a worldwide event for innovators and job creators, who launch their start-ups to bring ideas to life, map out projects for economic growth and human welfare.
Belarus joined Global Entrepreneurship Week in 2011, becoming one of 137 countries participating in the largest entrepreneurial initiative around the world. GEW activities in Belarus are coordinated by Bel.Biz company.
In 2012, Belarus was included in Top-5 GEW organisers globally, and in 2013, TechCrunch included GEW Belarus in the list of the best start-up events in Europe.
GEW Belarus activities will take place in all regions of Belarus and include the International Entrepreneurship Forum, BEL.BIZ Battle start-up competition, Mentor of the Year contest, start-up networking events, master-classes, workshops and panel discussions. More than 2,000 people take part in GEW Belarus every year.
Anyone can take part in Global Entrepreneurship Week. Non-governmental and commercial organisations can become general partners, sponsors of GEW events, initiative supervisors, organisers of master-classes, workshops, or competitions. In addition, they can be active participants of the week or media partners of the upcoming event.
“We are convinced that the future of our country is in entrepreneurial potential and entrepreneurs should become role models for our society,” the organisers said on the GEW.by website. “A new generation of entrepreneurs are first and foremost the people with fresh ideas who search for and find profitable business opportunities, ready to undertake risks to achieve their goals.”
SMEs account for just a fifth of GDP in Belarus, whose economy is dominated by large state-owned enterprises, and it can be a challenge for small privatised companies to flourish. In Belarus, the EU4Business programme has set up a number of initiatives to encourage innovation and support SMEs. EU funding, channelled through EU4Business, focuses on improving access to finance and foreign markets, building business skills and encouraging entrepreneurship.
Date
13/11/2017 – 19/11/2017
Participation
Preliminary registration is required. For more information, visit GEW.by.
Events taking place across Belarus
Full details: GEW.by