Local small and medium enterprises (SMEs), especially those operating in high-tech and green-tech sectors, are welcomed to the Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2013 (GES) which will be organized in November in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia.

The summit, the first of its kind hosted by a Southeast Asian nation, will have 11 satellite events organized from October 1st before the main event kicked in on October 11-12, 2013 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center overlooking the iconic Petronas Twin Towers and the 50-acre KLCC Park.

The sideline events will include BankTech Asia 2013, Malaysia Brand Forum 2013, ASEAN-IBM SmartCamp 2013, 1st Youth Social Entrepreneurship Conference, and Women's Power Lunch: A Network to Empower Action.

In addition, GES 2013 will feature the following additional activities, including Startup Academy workshops, Founder/Mentor matchmaking sessions and networking opportunities, Insider's Roundtable on Malaysia and ASEAN, Young Entrepreneurs Forum, and Policy Roundtable for senior policymakers to discuss fostering high growth entrepreneurship.

“GES 2013 will convene global stakeholders from throughout the entrepreneurship ecosystem to stare ideas and best practices and develop solutions for some of the most intractable issues that prevent the growth of entrepreneurship and businesses,” according to the organizer.

“The theme of the event is to strengthen and enhance the networking capacity and the potentials in every entrepreneur joining the event in order to give them the confidence to move on during the period of global economic slowdown,” said Tran Hai Nam, marketing director of Malaysia External Trade Corp (MATRADE) in HCMC.

“The main targets of the event will be development agencies, business associations, entrepreneurs, and venture capitalists so that they have a chance to get together and generate new ideas. It is expected to welcome 3,000 delegates this year from 2,200 and 2,000 ones in the last two events,” he added.

US President Barack Obama will give a speech there as he is the one who initiated the GES, along with Malaysian Prime Minister, Dato' Sri Mohd Najib.

 “Let's keep creating the next generation of dreamers, and creators, and builders. Let's close the skills gap with education that truly prepares our children for the jobs of the future. Let's help entrepreneurs harness the latest technology to build new networks of cooperation. Let's make it even easier to access capital,” Mr Obama said at the GES 2012 in Dubai. 

GES, an annual event initiated by the US president in 2009, kicked off for the first time two years later in the US capital city of Washington. It was then hosted in Istanbul and Dubai, the capital cities of Turkey and United Arab Emirates in the next two years.

Local SMEs can log on to http://www.geskualalumpur2013.org/registration.html or contact the MATRADE office in Ho Chi Minh City for registration.