G20 Yea Saudi Virtual Summit 2020 Kicks Off Under The Theme ‘Entrepreneurship Is A Source Of Innovation And Resilience’

Chaired by H.R.H. Prince Fahad bin Mansour bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the G20 Young Entrepreneurs’ Alliance (YEA) 2020 kicked on Thursday October 29th under the theme ‘Entrepreneurship is a Source of Innovation and Resilience.’

Local and global speakers took to the stage sharing insights, learnings, and expertise focusing on the summit’s theme that is built on three main topics, namely Entrepreneurship and the Economy, an Entrepreneurial Disruption, and Social and Environmental Aspects.

“Entrepreneurship is fuelled by innovation and resilience. As we reflect on the economic hardship we have all witnessed and lived through during the COVID-19 pandemic, the year 2020 has showcased the agility of entrepreneurs and start-ups as they seek to develop new opportunities and find creative ways to deliver entrepreneurial excellence,” stated H.R.H. Prince Fahad bin Mansour bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Chair of G20 YEA Saudi 2020 Summit.

This year’s summit is unprecedented as it is hosted virtually across the globe bringing together hundreds of the world’s top young entrepreneurs to issue a communique to G20 Leaders. As is the case with each G20 Leaders’ summit, the G20 YEA Summit takes place in a different country every year, by rotation of member countries.

The summit began with the handover of the chairmanship from Japan to the incoming G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance and KSA Summit Chair H.R.H. Prince Fahad bin Mansour bin Nasser bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, followed by the Summit Partner presentation by Armen Ovanessof, Principal Director of Accenture and Francis Hintermann, Global Managing Director of Accenture. After which they moderated a panel session titled ‘Pivotal Adaptation to COVID-19.’ Taking part in the panel will be Kitty C. Liao, Founder and CEO of IDEABATIC Ltd., Michele Frisoli, CEO of Manta Group, and Louis Debouzy, Founder and CEO of Hello Medical.

The summit’s emcee, Mohamed Al Mousa, introduced the speakers and panels of the coming two days, as follows:

Panel One:

Title: Impact of Entrepreneurship on the Economy
Speakers:
- H.E. Dr. Nabil Koshak, CEO of Saudi Venture Capital Company
- Essam AlThekair, Vice Governor of Monsha’at
- Riyadh AlZamel, Founder and Chairman of RAZ Group
- Dr. Mazen AlZaidi, Director of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Ministry of Investment
Moderator: Amal Dokhan, CEO of Global Entrepreneurship Network Saudi (GEN Saudi)

Panel Two:

Title: Pre- and Post-COVID-19 – Transformation the New Normal
Speakers:
- Dr. Sattam Al Subaiee, Assistant Director for Information – NIC
- Adwa Al Dakheel, Founder and CEO of Falak
- Ayman Al Sanad, CEO of MRSOOL
- Dr. Hugo Macedo, Founder and CEO of Smart Separations
- Matteo dell’ Acqua, CEO of ADFlexSpa
Moderator: Bayan Al Ghamdi, Head of Entrepreneurship at Community Jameel

Panel Three:

Title: Entrepreneurship Across Borders
Speakers:
- Arwa Al Banawi, Founder of Arwa Al Banawi Fashion House
- Abdulaziz Al Saif, Co-founder and Product Manager of FAYVO
- Vincent Bruneau, Founder and CEO of Sparkup
- Imad Jomaa, Founder and President of JGroup
Moderator: Vera Futorjanski, CEO and Founder of Veritas Ventures

Panel Four:

Title: Building and Replicating a Successful Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
Speakers:
- Dr. Neeraj Sonalkar, Executive Director of Human Innovation Design Research at Stanford University
- Dr. Hattan Ahmed, Head of Entrepreneurship Center at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
- Dr. Zeger Degraeve, Executive Dean at Prince Mohammad bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC)
- Daniel Ouimet, Senior Vice President of Futurpreneur Canada
- Dr. Sarah Ghaleb Head of Entrepreneurship & Innovation Ecosystem Saudi ARAMCO
Moderator: Amal Dokhan, CEO of Global Entrepreneurship Network Saudi (GEN Saudi)

Friday October 30, 2020

Panel Five:

Title: Unlocking VCs
Speakers:
- Aneel Ranadive, Managing Partner at SOMA Capital
- Lo Toney, Founding Managing Partner at Plexo Capital
- Ahmad Al Shammari, Partner at STV
- Gregoire Sentilhes, President and Founder of NextStageAM
Moderator: Areeba Rehman, Founder and CEO of Fretbay and G20 YEA President (France)

Panel Six:

Title: Education and Innovation
Speakers:
- David Choi, Educator and Entrepreneur at Loyola Marymount University
- Aziz Al Saeed, Co-founder and COO of NOON Academy
- Rakan Al Eidi, Founder of Chaizer
- Kevin “Kai” Chang, Founder and CEO of Kai Analytics & Survey Research Inc.
- Tianqi Han, President of Future Academy China
- Dr. Rahul Mirchandani, Chairman and Managing Director of Aries Agro Ltd.
Moderator: Dr. Asma Siddiki, Head of Special Projects at Prince Mohammad bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC)

Panel Seven:

Title: How Social Entrepreneurship is Vital for Sustainable Development
Speakers:
- Mohammed Ashour, General Manager of Sustainability at Athar Consultancy
- Mohamed Al Arify, General Manager of Entrepreneurship Planning at Monsha’at
- Oliver Mochizuki, Co-founder and CEO of Fundsurfer
- Stephanie Limage, CEO and Founder of Limage Media Group
- Fatima Montiel, G20 YEA President (Mexico)
- Aurelie Billat
Moderator: Alex Gill, Founder of Mendicant Group

The final session before the communique signing will be an interview with H.R.H. Prince Fahad bin Mansour G20 YEA KSA Chair, on resilience, innovation, and continuous evolvement redefining business growth and continuity and will be moderated by Dr. Mohammed Al Roomi, Professor of Entrepreneurship and Team Leader of GEM KSA at Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College of Business & Entrepreneurship (MBSC).

After signing the communique between Alex Gill and Mohammed Ashour, H.R.H. Prince Fahad will make the closing remarks and G20 YEA Saudi 2020 Summit Sherpa Sarah Al Ayed will share the summit’s recap and announce its conclusion.

Hosted in partnership with key local and global organizations, the summit’s partners include:

Global Alliance:
- G20 Young Entrepreneurs Alliance
Strategy Partners:
- Accenture
Governmental Partners:
- Ministry of Communications and Information Technology
- Ministry of Investment
- Monshaat (General Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises)
Knowledge Partners:
- Prince Mohamed Bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship (MBSC)
- King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST)
Ecosystem Partner:
- Falak
- GEN Saudi
- 500 Startups
- RAZ Group
- Community Jameel
- Saudi Venture Capital Company
Summit Partners:
- Spring Rose
- Gourmet Café
- TRACCS
- Athar Consultancy
- TACT
- FAYVO
- First Travel Agency
- RESERVAL
- ILSA Interactive
- Sustainable