Berytech took part in the the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship held in Washington, DC, on April 26 & 27. This Summit, a follow-up on President Obama’s speech "A New Beginning" in Cairo, June 2009, promised to deepen ties between business leaders, foundations, and entrepreneurs in the United States and around the Arab and Muslim world.

Nicolas Rouhana from Berytech was one of 250+ delegates from over 50 countries invited to participate in the Summit. The Lebanese delegation also included men and women from different organizations – business leaders in diverse sectors, educators, community organizers, and social entrepreneurs among others.

Mr. Rouhana seized the opportunity to attend several post-summit events to which he had been invited, namely a round-table discussion with the President's Chief Technology Officer, Aneesh Chopra and his advisor, in which he was able, alongside other participants, to share ideas and offer feedback on the President’s Strategy for American Innovation, with a particular focus on how to assist with the broader goal of advancing global entrepreneurship around the world.

Mr. Rouhana was also invited to Global Technology Forum organized by TechWadi (www.techwadi.org), which brought together over 200 individuals from more than 10 countries in a collaborative forum to discuss entrepreneurship and access to finance in the MENA region. A TechWadi follow up conference will be organized in Beirut during the last week of June, to strengthen the ties with Arab entrepreneurs and Silicon Valley.

Finally, Mr. Rouhana visited Baltimore’s technology Incubator , ETC, (www.etcbaltimore.com), and met with its Director Ann Lasinger. Both exchanged best practices on incubation, and studied the possibility of an MoU to provide “soft-landing” services for companies reaching out from Lebanon to the US markets.

About the Summit:
Attended by the President of the United States and various Cabinet Secretaries and senior U.S. Government officials, this Summit highlighted the importance of entrepreneurship to fostering economic opportunity and community development, and presented a unique platform of exchange and networking where participants shared ideas regarding new opportunities to explore. New connections were built between foreign delegates and American stakeholders, thus, developing partnerships that provide innovative solutions and support entrepreneurial ecosystems.

More on the Summit outcome can be found in the closing speech of Mrs. Hillary Clinton available at http://www.state.gov/secretary/rm/2010/04/140968.htm