Latest news with #GlobalEntrepreneurshipSummit
The Hindu
14-05-2025
- Business
- The Hindu
Ambani flies to Qatar to meet Trump, second meeting since inauguration
Richest Asian Mukesh Ambani is flying to Doha to meet U.S. President Donald Trump, his second meeting since Mr. Trump returned to presidency in January this year. Mr. Ambani will attend a state dinner that the Emir of Qatar is hosting for Mr. Trump at the Lusail Palace in Doha on Wednesday (May 14, 2025), sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. Reliance Industries Ltd., the firm that Mr. Ambani heads, did not reply to an email sent for comments. While business discussions are off the table, his oil-to-retail conglomerate has businesses closely tied to decisions of the U.S. President. Reliance had last year secured waivers from the U.S. to resume importing crude oil from Venezuela. It however had to stop that in March following Mr. Trump authorising a 25% tariff on countries buying the South American country's oil. Reliance also sells fuels like gasoline made from crude oil bought from countries such as Russia into the American market. Also, U.S. tech giants such as Google and Meta have taken an equity stake in Mr. Ambani's digital venture. Reliance has business ties with Qatar as well. The Gulf nation's sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has invested about $1 billion in Mr. Ambani's retail venture. Mr. Ambani and his wife Nita had attended Mr. Trump's second inauguration in January. They were also part of the select 100 who attended an intimate candlelit dinner with Mr. Trump a day prior to the inauguration. 'At the dinner, the two had met Vice-President J.D. Vance and his wife Usha as well,' sources said. The Ambanis share close ties with the Trump family. The richest Indian was present when Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump, visited Hyderabad for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2017. She was an advisor to President Trump then. He was also present when Mr. Trump visited India last as the U.S. President in February 2020. Ms. Ivanka, her husband Jared Kushner and their eldest daughter Arabella Rose were among the celebrities who attended the star-studded three-day pre-wedding celebrations of Mr. Ambani's youngest son Anant and fiancée Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, Gujarat, in March 2024.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Mukesh Ambani to fly to Qatar for Donald Trump's state dinner—here's why this high-profile visit matters
Mukesh Ambani, Asia's richest man and chairman of Reliance Industries, is travelling to Doha to attend a state dinner hosted by the Emir of Qatar in honour of US President Donald Trump. The event, set to take place at Lusail Palace on Wednesday, will be Ambani's second meeting with Trump since the US leader resumed office in January this year. No business talks, but key ties remain Although business discussions will not be part of the dinner agenda, Ambani's visit is significant. His oil-to-retail group, Reliance Industries, operates in sectors that are closely influenced by US policy. In 2023, Reliance had obtained waivers from the US to import crude oil from Venezuela, but was forced to halt imports this March after President Trump imposed a 25% tariff on countries continuing oil trade with Venezuela. Reliance also exports fuel made from Russian oil into the US market. Strong connections with US and Qatar Ambani's group has ongoing ties with Qatar too. The Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the Gulf state's sovereign wealth fund, has invested around USD 1 billion in Reliance Retail. In the US, Reliance's digital arm has received equity investments from major tech firms such as Google and Meta, underlining its international partnerships. Continuing personal ties with Trump Ambani and his wife, Nita Ambani, were present at Trump's second inauguration in January and also attended a private dinner hosted the night before the ceremony. They met US Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha at the event. Ambani has maintained longstanding personal ties with the Trump family. He was present during Ivanka Trump's 2017 visit to Hyderabad for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit and attended Trump's official visit to India in 2020. Trump-Ambani ties visible at family celebrations The Ambani family's recent wedding festivities in March 2024 also saw close involvement of the Trumps. Ivanka Trump, her husband Jared Kushner, and their daughter Arabella Rose were among the high-profile attendees at the pre-wedding celebrations of Ambani's youngest son, Anant Ambani, and Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, Gujarat. This meeting in Qatar underscores the continued engagement between the Ambanis and the Trump circle, both on the business front and through personal ties.
Hindustan Times
14-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Mukesh Ambani flying to Qatar to meet Donald Trump at Emir's state dinner
Asia's Richest man Mukesh Ambani is flying to Doha to meet US President Donald Trump for his second meeting since Trump returned to presidency in January this year. Ambani will attend a state dinner that the Emir of Qatar is hosting for Trump at the Lusail Palace in Doha on Wednesday, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said. While business discussions are off the table, his oil-to-retail conglomerate has businesses closely tied to decisions of the US President. Reliance had last year secured waivers from the US to resume importing crude oil from Venezuela. It however had to stop that in March following Trump authorising a 25 per cent tariff on countries buying the South American country's oil. Reliance also sells fuels like gasoline made from crude oil bought from countries such as Russia into the American market. Also, US tech giants such as Google and Meta have taken an equity stake in Ambani's digital venture. Reliance has business ties with Qatar as well. The Gulf nation's sovereign wealth fund, Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) has invested about USD 1 billion in Ambani's retail venture. Ambani and his wife Nita Ambani had attended Trump's second inauguration in January. They were also part of the select 100 who attended an intimate candlelit dinner with Trump a day prior to the inauguration. At the dinner, the two had met Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usha as well, sources said. Ambanis share close ties with the Trump family. The richest Indian was present when Ivanka Trump, daughter of Donald Trump, visited Hyderabad for the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in 2017. She was an advisor to President Trump then. He was also present when Trump visited India last as the US President in February 2020. Ivanka, her husband Jared Kushner and their eldest daughter Arabella Rose were among the celebrities who attended the star-studded three-day pre-wedding celebrations of Ambani's youngest son Anant and fiancee Radhika Merchant in Jamnagar, Gujarat, in March 2024.
Morocco World
23-04-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
Morocco Hosts International Conference to Rethink Finance and Innovation
Academics and business leaders gather in Fez this week for the first International Conference on Management, Innovation, and Finance (MIF 2025), a new initiative to connect the dots between research and real-world economic shifts. The two-day event, running from April 23 to 24, is co-organised by the Private University of Fez and Sidi Mohammed Ben Abdellah University. It brings together finance professors, digital experts, and young researchers to discuss issues ranging from fintech to climate change and finance. Safae Ismaili, a lecturer and researcher specialising in finance, frames the conference as a response to Morocco's evolving economic landscape. 'MIF 2025 is a platform for dialogue, critical thinking, and collective construction around the major economic challenges of our time,' she told Morocco World News (MWN). Safae Ismaili, a lecturer and researcher specialising in finance She stressed the need to bridge theory and practice, explaining: 'The ambition behind this conference is quite clear: to create a genuine link between academic research and real-world application, between universities and businesses, between ideas and concrete action. Because yes, it's good to think—but it's better to think to transform.' Read also: Entrepreneurial Growth in Morocco: A Decade After the Global Entrepreneurship Summit Pascal Nguyen, a professor of finance at the University of Montpellier and one of the event's keynote speakers, echoed that sentiment. 'I'm genuinely impressed by the quality of the organisation and the calibre of the speakers I've heard this morning. There's an abundance of highly qualified young people… I feel Morocco has a very bright future,' he told MWN. Nguyen, who also co-leads a programme on green finance, spoke about the dangers of corporate short-sightedness. 'The question is: why do firms often make the wrong choices? Why do they pursue investments and decisions that are unsustainable and trigger crises—whether social, financial, or economic?' The event aimed to tackle such questions head-on, with panels exploring everything from digital transformation to low-carbon policy. As Morocco pushes to bring its economy up to date and attract green investment, MIF 2025 may prove a timely meeting of minds. 'Morocco is in motion,' said Dr Ismaili. Tags: economyfinanceInnovationMoroccoPrivate University of Fez
Morocco World
24-02-2025
- Business
- Morocco World
Growth Entrepreneurship in Morocco a Decade After the Global Entrepreneurship Summit
By hosting the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in November 2014 in Marrakech, Morocco placed the spotlight on entrepreneurship and made it a national strategic focus. On that occasion, the World Bank announced a 50‑million‑dollar loan intended for investment in startups, marking a turning point in the financing of innovative entrepreneurship and sowing the seeds for a national venture capital industry. A decade later, it must be acknowledged that while progress has been made in supporting and financing startups, our country's economy has not been stimulated by a new generation of high-growth startups. The scarcity of growth entrepreneurship is a real hindrance to the country's development. In its report on the New Development Model, the CSMD estimated that the economy would need to grow by at least 6% to allow Morocco to achieve its human development goals and to position itself among the top third of advanced economies. Even if it is not the only lever, reaching this target will not be possible without scaling up our entrepreneurial ecosystem, which, compared to other regional ecosystems, still remains in an emerging phase. A few figures illustrate the embryonic nature of our ecosystem. The official document for the Digital Morocco 2030 strategy states that Morocco has an 'approximate' stock of 380 startups—a figure far too low to generate gazelles (companies with double-digit revenue growth) or unicorns valued at over one billion dollars. The number of startups that have received investment from seed funds (46 as of the end of 2023) or venture capital funds (75) is far from the 380 announced in the Digital Morocco 2030 document, especially considering that some startups are likely counted twice in this investment sequence. The total amount invested in startups is even more telling: 290 million MAD (29 million US$) in seed funding by the end of 2023 and 653 million MAD (65 million US$) in venture capital. Compared to the volumes of capital invested in startups in America, Europe, and Asia, these amounts are almost negligible. The Digital Morocco 2030 plan aims for 10 gazelles by 2026 (none in 2024) and one to two unicorns by 2030. This is an ambitious target compared to the current state, yet very little to contribute to doubling the pace of GDP growth. A decade after the Global Entrepreneurship Summit, how can it be explained that our economy has so few growth companies? This situation is all the more incomprehensible considering that the past decade saw the creation of several dozen incubators and accelerators benefiting from public, private, and international financial support. The decade also saw the emergence of a national venture capital industry, notably spurred by the Innov Invest fund, which was fueled by the 50‑million‑dollar loan from the World Bank. If the amount invested in startups so far is modest, it is not due to a lack of available capital but rather a lack of quality projects. The amount announced by the Mohammed VI Fund for startup investments, as well as the creation by several large Moroccan companies of corporate venturing funds, have significantly increased the financial resources available. This phenomenon is even beginning to trigger bidding wars among investors over a limited number of quality projects. If support organizations and financing vehicles are no longer—or are less—of a problem, then what is 'wrong'? Viewed as a market, our entrepreneurial ecosystem no longer suffers from a lack of support and investment supply but from a lack of demand for these mechanisms. The shortfall lies in the supply of entrepreneurs. Public policies and private initiatives have primarily focused on the downstream phases of the entrepreneurship value chain, while the problem actually lies upstream. Taking upstream action means strengthening our national innovation system, which suffers greatly from a lack of resources, creativity, and proactive leadership. The first—and only—time the country implemented a national innovation strategy, launched in 2009, the rocket exploded on the launchpad due to a design flaw in the implementation mechanism. Since the false launch of a national innovation strategy, our investment in research and development has plateaued at around 0.7%, whereas OECD countries allocate, on average, 2.4%. A closer look at the 0.7% reveals that a significant portion goes into university professor salaries that generate little or no research, as suggested by the very low proportion (8%) of domestically originated patent applications registered by OMPIC in 2022, or by the low level of publications in international scientific journals. The second upstream lever that we have not yet managed to activate is education. There is no need to rub salt in an open wound, but our educational system—which consumes 20% of the state budget—does not nurture an entrepreneurial mindset among young Moroccans. We have been talking for too long about the need to make more room for initiative, creativity, autonomy, and teamwork. There are no magic formulas to reform the school system and foster innovation in order to accelerate the supply of entrepreneurs and growth startups. Let us first agree that public and private efforts must be directed upstream—and not only downstream—in the entrepreneurial process. If we share this conviction, we could find solutions. Let's put these issues at the heart of the entrepreneurship agenda for the next decade. Tags: entrepreneurshipEntrepreneurship morocco
