BCIU Applauds Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, Sees Efforts Generating Goodwill, Partnerships and Jobs

President Obama's foreign economic policy behind summit fosters new opportunities for BCIU member companies worldwide

WASHINGTON, April 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) today announced its support and praise of the Presidential Summit on Entrepreneurship, co-hosted by the Departments of Commerce and State, which brings together more than 275 participants from over 50 countries around the world. A direct result of President Obama's landmark June 2009 speech in Cairo where he pledged to broaden ties between business leaders, foundations and entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim countries, the Summit has created a platform that BCIU believes will lead to untapped economic opportunities, job creation and investment across the globe.

"President Obama's focus on entrepreneurship is leading to concrete partnerships and results," said Peter Tichansky, President and CEO of BCIU. "After attending a welcome reception hosted by the Kaufmann Foundation, it was clear that the visiting entrepreneurs enthusiastically share, as we do, the President's belief that unleashing entrepreneurship is the surest way to address the global employment deficit. The common language among the entrepreneurs attending is palpable as are their stories of successful company building; I witnessed agreements between U.S. investors and summit participants even before the conference began."

BCIU endorses the President's National Export Initiative in which he commits his Administration to doubling U.S. exports in five years and applauds the combined efforts of the Departments of Commerce and State in supporting those ambitious goals.  

"Setting these goals is critical and the talented interagency team working on the Initiative understands their magnitude and significance," said Mr. Tichansky.  "When you consider that just 1 percent of American companies export, and you combine that fact with a weak dollar, the resources of the U.S. government, the outstanding support available at U.S. embassies, the acceptance of U.S. brands and the broad buying power abroad, the time for exports is now."

BCIU is actively supporting the Kaufmann Foundation's Global Entrepreneurship Week (www.unleashingideas.org), and commends Carl Schramm's article on "expeditionary economics" in the May/June issue of Foreign Affairs Magazine. BCIU is also a global partner of AllWorld Network (www.allworldlive.com) in its efforts to identify and award 'fast growth' companies and entrepreneurship hotspots in the Middle East and Africa.

About BCIU

Since its inception in 1955 as a White House initiative under President Eisenhower, the Business Council for International Understanding (BCIU) has been a neutral, results-oriented partner, facilitating dialogue and alliances between world businesses and political leaders. With members from more than 150 world-leading companies, BCIU provides an ongoing forum for senior business executives to interact with heads of state/government, cabinet ministers and senior government officials. For more information, visit www.bciu.org.

SOURCE Business Council for International Understanding