Isaura Daniel*
São Paulo – Globalisation is one of the great facilitators of entrepreneurship. This statement was made by the Egyptian Abdel Hamid Mamdouh, director of Trade at the Services Division of the World Trade Organization (WTO), yesterday (15), in the sidelines of the 10th World Summit of Young Entrepreneurs, which is taking place at the Convention Palace at Anhembi Park, in São Paulo. Mamdouh is a lawyer and has been working for the WTO, in Geneva, Switzerland. Before that he was the trade negotiator for the Egyptian government.
To an audience of around 1,000 people, most young entrepreneurs, Mamdouh stated that it is necessary to be aware of the opportunities that the globalised world presents. He also recalled, however, in an interview to ANBA, that it is necessary to guarantee to entrepreneurs from developing countries good and fair opportunities for access to the markets of great countries, "whether its North America, Europe, Japan, or anywhere they want to go," he said.
According to Mamdouh, the WTO sent him to the meeting as their representative due to the theme, which is the liberalization of trade and is of great interest to the organization. To him the objective "is to liberalise trade as it is newly defined, to encompass movement of capital and movement of people, to liberalise it through agreements between governments, in order to open up new investment opportunities for entrepreneurs, to open their horizons."
He recalled, however, that liberalisation does not mean eliminating regulation and that it is important for globalisation to take place in an organised manner. The WTO operates in the regulation of world trade.
Mamdouh stated that the current generation of entrepreneurs is the best that the world has ever seen. "IT and technology have greatly helped entrepreneurs supplying them with tools that did not exist in the past, providing them with information about markets that were not available for previous entrepreneurs. Their work is simplified by market globalisation and by the reduction of barriers between countries," stated the Egyptian.
The WTO representative also discussed the points that exist in Egypt and in Brazil and that stimulate entrepreneurship. According to him there are "similarities in terms of the average age of the population, in terms of the nature of the economy, as a developing economy with a broad base of human resources and well educated young people." In both countries, according to Mamdouh, the organizations for regulation have similar levels of development and good attraction of foreign investment. The lawyer believes, however, that greater communication among businessmen from Egypt and Brazil is necessary.
This is the first time that Mamdouh travels to Brazil. Although he was born in Egypt, Mamdouh has lived in Switzerland for 21 years. Before working for the WTO, the lawyer operated as the Egyptian representative at the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT). He was also the advisor for trade policies at the Egyptian Ministry of Economy and Foreign Trade, the cultural attaché at the Egyptian Embassy in Canberra, Australia, and Egyptian representative at the economic commission for Africa at the United Nations (UN) in Ethiopia.
At the opening of the meeting yesterday, Mamdouh described São Paulo as "a marvellous cosmopolitan city". Participating with him, as speakers at the congress, were world authorities and well-known foreign businessmen, like the president of the World Council of Travel and Tourism, Jean-Claude Baumgarten, and Ken Murphy, vice president for Marketing and Communications at United Air Travel Plan, from the United States.
Model entrepreneur
The Chinese Wong Kwong-Yu, aged 36, was honoured by the leaders of the meeting for his entrepreneurship. Kwong-Yu, the owner of Gome Home Appliances Holding, which has a chain of electronic product stores, is one of the richest Chinese businessmen. The company was established in 1987, with a 100 square-metre store, according to the Chinese, and it currently has 48 points of sale. "Our development is based on self-improvement. We are always seeking innovation," stated the businessman.
The 10th World Congress of Young Entrepreneurs, which ends tomorrow, is promoted by the World Trade University, connected to the UN. The event is being organised in Brazil sponsored by the Forum of Young Entrepreneurs, a group of young entrepreneurs at the Commercial Association of São Paulo. The president and chief executive of the World Trade University, Sujit Chowdhury, is also the secretary general of the meeting and is coordinating activities.
*Translated by Mark Ament
