The Ministry of Economy and Finance of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Arab Monetary Fund (AMF), the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) jointly organize the High-Level Policy Forum on “New Venture Finance in the Arab World”, scheduled to take place at Amphitrite Palace in Skhirat, Rabat – Kingdom of Morocco on 20-21 November 2017.
The conference will bring together high-level government authorities, including representatives from Ministries of Finance, Industry, Labour and Social Affairs, Central Banks, Financial Market Authorities, senior staff from regional and international financial institutions, researchers, and private sector practitioners.
Under the overarching theme of “Accelerating Arab Startups” the forum aims to explore innovative approaches to support entrepreneurship finance in the Arab World. It will feature a mix of panels, discussions and workshops focusing on regulatory and policy innovations to create an improved climate for investments in startups. Moreover, it will offer an exclusive networking opportunity for representatives from Central Banks and financial regulatory authorities, Ministries of Finance and key actors from the private sector.
The conference will highlight the potential impact of access to finance by startups on fostering innovation, competition, economic growth and job creation and sensitize financial regulators, policy-makers, supervisors and decision-makers for the topic of startup financing especially for young entrepreneurs and women in the Arab world. In addition, the conference will develop a common understanding of the role that financial regulators and the private sector can play in creating and strengthening new financing schemes for startups. Moreover, the conference will facilitate knowledge exchange and peer-to-peer learning on how to develop suitable innovative financial inclusion policies and strategies that help close the financing gap for startups.
The conference will provide recommendations for promoting an enabling environment for startup finance in the region. These recommendations will be translated into program activities for Arab countries under the Financial Inclusion for the Arab Region Initiative (FIARI).
The aim of the newly established regional initiative, FIARI, is to help accelerate conducive policies and actions for enhancing Arab societies’ access to financial services. Building on financial inclusion as a driving force for sustainable development aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs), FIARI will provide a regional platform for effective coordination, capacity building and knowledge exchange on good practices through peer-learning and support national financial inclusion policies.
Also, on a national level, some interactive workshops are organized as part of the "national day of funding start-ups". This will be an opportunity for developing a coherent vision for the preparation of an integrated strategy with a clear roadmap for strengthening and diversifying financing mechanisms for start-ups in Morocco.