Invitation

Sustainable development through entrepreneurship How can entrepreneurship in developing countries be promoted successfully?

Tuesday, October 2, 2018 • 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. • Technopark, Zurich

Skills development Productive employment and income genera-tion through practical, hands-on training and improved access to the job market.

Enterprise promotionStrengthening business performance and com-petitiveness of small and medium enterprises through sustainable value chain interventions, improved market access, and local economic development.

Financial servicesFacilitating active participation in the economy through access to basic financial literacy and services for entrepreneurially-minded people.

Climate-friendly businessCreating new income opportunities through efficient use of natural resources and clima-te-friendly production.

Swisscontact promotes sustainable economic development driven by an innovative private sector. This opens oppor-tunities for employment and income generation.

Swisscontact is creating ideal conditions for a private sector committed to social and environ-mental principles as well as poverty alleviation.

Entrepreneurship: focus on innovation and growth

Swisscontact has a longstanding tradition of supporting small and medium enterpri-ses (SMEs). For over 50 years, Swisscont-act has been promoting entrepreneurship.

Strengthening entrepreneurial thinking and action, as well as supporting the entrepre-neur to start a business lie at the heart of our efforts. Access to appropriate financial services as well as local, regional, and inter-national markets are important basic con-ditions for businesses to be successful. By developing positive policy frameworks and social conditions, legal and cultural barriers can be dismantled and entrepreneurship can be supported effectively.

Stimulating entrepreneurship is not just a proven approach to make businesses more competitive: entrepreneurship also helps disadvantaged populations to earn reliable income.

Swisscontact in particular promotes entre-preneurship among women, the young, and migrants. Experience has shown that when these people are able to recognize their own potential, acting and developing with an eye to the market, they can raise their own and their community’s standard of living significantly. What’s more, they are contributing to economic growth in the wi-der region.

Promoting business activity

Business activity constitutes the basis of private sec-tor development. Innovative people who seize bu-siness opportunities are essential for broad-based economic growth. Swisscontact values the concept of viewing an economic system holistically as well as un-derstanding the interrelations between organizations, policy, and businesses. This holistic approach empha-sizes those factors that have the most effect on busi-ness activity, cooperation, innovation, and competition.

In developing countries, where often there are not enough jobs available, self-employment for many people is the only way to earn a living. Recognizing opportunities, taking risks, and a solid determination to bring an idea or invention to fruition on the market, are all important elements of the entrepreneurial spi-rit. To establish and develop profitable businesses that encompass more than just one person,

entrepreneurs need favourable policy frameworks and a functional economic ecosystem. This includes access to non-financial resources such as informati-on, know-how, qualified employees, and quality me-ans of production. In addition to promoting business culture and business-friendly policy frameworks, Swisscontact also facilitates access to financial ser-vices.

Important starting points for businesses include start-up centres, techno-parks, risk capital funds, and investors. It is particularly important to strengt-hen business skills. Swisscontact provides basic bu-siness skills trainings to young people who have just completed their technical education and through continuing education are striving for economic in-dependence. In addition, Swisscontact supports existing start-ups and companies in their further development.

Speakers and moderators

Carolina Müller-Möhl, President of the Müller-Möhl Foundation and President of the Board of Trustees of the Müller-Möhl GroupCarolina Müller-Möhl founded and chairs her own Müller-Möhl Group, a single family office, since 2000. She also works on numerous mandates, including as a Board Member of the Neue Zürcher Zeitung and Orascom, and is a Supervisory Board Member of Fielmann AG (Germany). In 2012 she founded the Mül-ler-Möhl Foundation, which she has chaired ever since, bringing together her many years of commitment to social policy. In 2007 she was appointed by the World Economic Forum as a Young Global Leader.

Thomas Bergen, Co-Founder and CEO of getAbstractThomas Bergen studied business at the University of St. Gallen. He started his professional career in 1993 at Migros Bank, where in 1998 he became a member of the board. That same year he founded getAbstract, today the worldwide leading supplier of book abstracts. In 2010 he returned from the USA after a successful launch and since then has been directing global business ope-rations from his HQ in Lucerne. Since 2016 he has been a member of Swisscontact’s Board of Trustees Executive Committee.

Christoph Birkholz, Co-Founder and Managing Director Impact Hub ZürichDr. Christoph Birkholz is an entrepreneur based in Zurich, Switzerland. He is a co-founder and managing director of Impact Hub Zürich. He also founded and directs Kickstart Accelerator, one of the world’s largest acceleration programs to connect startups, corporates, universities and cities. Christoph is a co-founder of yova-investing.com to mainstream impact investing. He initiated several spinoffs and initiatives in the Impact Hub network, such as Viaduct Ventures and the Global Impact Hub Fellowship.

Béatrice Fischer, Managing Director, Credit Suisse (Schweiz) AGBéatrice Fischer has been at Credit Suisse since 1990, where she has worked in customer service, Corporate Secretary, Chief of Staff to the Private Banking CEO, and Director of Philan-thropy & Sustainable Development. More recently, since 2015 she has been Director of Com-munications & Marketing for Credit Suisse (Switzerland) AG. She holds a Law Degree from the University of Zurich and a Diploma from the International Bankers School Chicago (Advanced Corporate Finance). She is a member of Swisscontact’s Board of Trustees.

Thomas Gass, Vice-Director and Head of the South Cooperation Department, AmbassadorThe Bundesrat appointed Thomas Gass on January 1, 2018 Vice-Director and Head of the South Cooperation Department at the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). Ambassador Gass has extensive experience in bilateral and multilateral development coope-ration. Among other things, he has held various positions at the United Nations and led the Mission of Switzerland in Nepal.

Urs Gredig, JournalistUrs Gredig has been Chief Editor at CNN Money Switzerland since autumn 2017. Before that, he had worked for Swiss Radio and Television (SRF) for 15 years, including as UK Correspon-dent, Moderator of the Tagesschau news program’s main edition as well as at important events such as the Swiss federal elections in 2011 or the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. A native of Davos, he has lived in Freiburg, Padua, and Long Beach and studied journalism.

Heinrich M. Lanz, President SwisscontactSince 2016, Heinrich Lanz has been a member of the Advisory Committee for International Development. In addition, he is Vice-Chair on various boards of industrial enterprises. Until 2009 he was CEO of Conzzeta, an industrial corporation listed on the stock market. He stu-died management at the IMD business school in Lausanne, holds a Postgraduate Degree in International Development from the Swiss Federal institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH) and a Masters in Electrical Engineering from ETH.

Two successful start-ups ... that couldn’t be more different

David Olyabo, 24 years old, Uganda

David left school early, began taking odd jobs, and later became a youth leader in his community. Together with other young people, David participated in a series of U-Le-arn activities implemented by Swisscontact. These inclu-ded professional counselling. After carefully weighing the options, David and his learning group decided to pursue fish farming. David is the Chairman of this group, to which 20 young entrepreneurs now belong. The group raises fish with currently 25,000 fish housed in 5 cages on Lake Vic-toria. In March 2018 the group had earned US$29,000. David chose this sector because he already had a lot of experience with fisheries on Lake Victoria and regional de-mand for fish is quite high. Meanwhile, he has strengthened his leadership skills and is inspiring other young people in the Lake Victoria region to pursue fish farming.

Erna Šoševic, 34 years old, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Hercegovina

In summer 2017, Erna founded “Bizbook”. The online B2B platform links together companies from all over Bosnia and Hercegovina. Erna has created a brand-new marketplace for SMEs and given them the chance to grow. More than 250 companies are already members of the platform and log in daily. A start-up organisation supported Erna in the foundation process of Bizbook and helped her find an inves-tor: a young software company that was willing to develop Bizbook into a business solution. Through the Swiss Entre-preneurship Program, which Swisscontact is implementing on behalf of SECO, she benefited from numerous men-tors, and this was crucial for both her personal as well as professional development, in addition to Bizbook’s success. Website: bizbook.ba

Programme schedule

Thomas BergenCo-Founder and CEO of getAbstract, Swisscontact Trustee

Carolina Müller-Möhl President of the Müller-Möhl Foundation and Pre-sident of the Board of Trustees of the Müller-Möhl Group

David Olyabo, Fish farmer Erna Šoševic, Founder of Bizbook

Thomas Gass Head of the South Cooperation Department at the SDCBéatrice FischerCredit SuisseChristoph Birkholz Co-Founder and Managing Director Impact Hub Zürich

Heinrich M. Lanz President of the Board of Trustees, Swisscontact

Panel moderator: Urs Gredig, Swiss journalist and television moderator

15.30 Uhr

16.00 Uhr

16.15 Uhr

16.45 Uhr

17.30 Uhr

18.00 Uhr

18.45 Uhr

19.00 Uhr

Doors open

Welcome speech

With passion: career and calling

A look at two start-ups from Uganda and Bosnia and Hercegovina

Break

Panel discussionDynamic entrepreneurship:Which factors undermine and which help us?

Summary and conclusions

Apéro

Together with his guests, moderator Urs Gredig will discuss the potential of entrepreneurship, the challenges and new approaches faced, and how to promote entrepreneurship effectively in de-veloping countries.

The most important questions in this regard in-clude: what role can entrepreneurship play in spurring economic growth, employment, innovati-on, and transforming an economy? Can entrepre-neurship help to integrate disadvantaged popula-tions into the economy?

Guests will discuss the different kinds of foun-ders and companies, and how these differen-ces can accommodate development. Finally, so-cio-economic and cultural conditions also have a considerable effect on entrepreneurship.

The discussion will also address the question of which impulses are needed to help young people in particular to realize their potential. How can they de-velop their knowledge and skills to use new techno-logies and participate in market developments, while also transforming the market?

Policy and the public sector play various roles in supporting development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem: on the one hand they support innova-tive and growth-oriented technology companies, while on the other they support entrepreneurship and independence for disadvantaged target groups. Where should the emphasis be placed? A key iss-ue particularly for founders is finance: how can they get access to adequate finance, and how to involve financial institutions? And how can exchange bet-ween stakeholders help entrepreneurship on the local, national, and international level?

Podium

Location

Technopark Zürich, Technoparkstrasse 18005 Zürich, Tel. +41 44 445 10 00

Getting there using public transport:• Tram No. 4 to Technopark station, then

walk 2 minutes• S-Bahn to Hardbrücke station, then

walk 8 minutes

Registration

Please register by September 15, 2018 at:

www.swisscontact.org/jahresanlassVia e-mail: ch_events@swisscontact.org

We look forward to your participation.

SwisscontactSwiss Foundation for Technical CooperationHardturmstrasse 123, 8005 ZürichTel. +41 44 454 17 17

www.swisscontact.org

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