Entrepreneurial Investment Forum “Forsa 2024” encourages establishing Startups

The 3rd Entrepreneurial Investment Forum “Forsa 2024”, held by the National Union of Syrian Students and the Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association (SYEA) between August 28th and 29th, aimed at providing opportunities to university students, graduates and young people to enter the job market by creating an integrated entrepreneurial environment for their projects, including training, quality supervision and financing.

 During the from, a dialogue session was held in the presence of the Minister of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection of the Caretaker government Mohsen Abdul Karim Ali at the Reda Saeed Conference Hall at Damascus University. the participants discussed a number of issues related to encouraging the establishment of startups on an official basis.

They addressed the current challenges and the main problems faced by entrepreneurs when establishing companies, especially the difficulties related to the transition from the informal to the formal economy and how to simplify the registration and licensing procedures, reduce costs and save time.

The participants called for developing a clear roadmap for the creation of a “single window” for business registration, obtaining licenses and developing the WIPO mechanism, drawing up a list of proposed incentive programs aimed at different industries and business sizes. They also stressed the necessity of organizing a public awareness campaign to educate entrepreneurs about the benefits of transition to the formal economy, setting very special conditions for any entity that wants to impose financial burdens on any startup, and determining the corresponding imposition of such burdens.

Minister Ali pointed to the importance of entrepreneurship among the youth, as it is the backbone of economic growth and development that contributes to achieving sustainable economic and social development, stressing the ministry’s keenness to support the process of growth and development to achieve social progress at the national level and the integration of all components of Syrian society so that the growth process becomes rapid.

He pointed out that the effort will be doubled to cooperate and partner with young people to provide creative ideas and support them to promote and develop the country, in accordance with the directives of President Bashar Al-Assad on the support and development of small projects that form the basis of the economies of most countries of the world.

Dr. Darin Suleiman, president of the National Union of Syrian students, pointed out that the young generation is enthusiastic, committed and it has creative ideas and projects, therefore, it is necessary to provide them with support and care in the field of entrepreneurship, which needs necessary legislation and environment,  as well as partnership with state institutions, concerned ministries, universities, banking institutions as well as small and medium enterprises and banks.

Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association,Moataz Sukriya expressed his hope to establish a special platform for entrepreneurs and start-ups whose procedures are simpler, stressing that it is necessary to support young people to achieve their dreams and serve their country.

Member of the Executive Office of the Student Union, Head of the Office of Higher Education and Student Affairs, Imad Al-Omar, stressed the importance of clarifying all necessary procedures to transform creative ideas into sustainable and successful projects.