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Saturday, Feb 21, 2026

High-profile speakers lined up for Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Riyadh

High-profile speakers lined up for Global Entrepreneurship Congress in Riyadh

The Global Entrepreneurship Conference (GEC), which kicked off on Sunday, will bring together 150 experts’ speakers, international business leaders, economists, and decision-makers from 180 countries, as well as 26 ministers from around the world, to discuss over 100 sessions a variety of important topics in the field of entrepreneurship, and best practices for establishing a uniform post-pandemic global entrepreneurship system
The conference, which was organized by the Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monshaat) in collaboration with the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) was launched on Sunday in Riyadh under the theme "Rethink, Reboot, Regenerate"

Among the leading local figures speaking and participating in the conference are the Minister of Energy Prince Abdulaziz Bin Salman, Minister of Investment Khalid Al-Falih, and Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Eng. Abdullah Al Swaha.

Internationally, speakers include Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, and Netflix co-founder Marc Randolph, as well as businessman and economist Carl J. Schramm who is the former president of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

In addition to the entrepreneur and Chairman of GEN Jeff Hoffman, and the founder of Mara Group Ashish Thakkar, and from Stanford University, the lecturer Rebeca Hwang, amongst many more.

A number of CEOs will participate in the conference, including the CEO and Board Member of the Saudi Venture Capital Company, Dr. Nabeel Koshak, the Director-General of the World Trade Organization Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.

The list of speakers at the conference also includes a number of founders and important figures, among them are Deputy President and Vice Chairman of Abdul Latif Jameel Group Hassan Jameel and Vice President of Nesma Holding Co. Noura Alturki, Co-founder of Careem Abdullah Elias, and CEO of Unifonic Inc, Ahmed Hamdan, CEO and Co-founder of Nana Sami Alhelwah, and CEO of Orascom Development Holding AG, Samih Sawiris.

Also participating in the conference are the founder and CEO of Falak Investment Hub Adwa AlDakheel, and founder of Resal Hatem Kameli, Chairman of The Board of Sunbulah Group, Samer Ibrahim Kurdi, and the founder of Foodics, Eng. Ahmad Al Zain

The list includes a group of the most important entrepreneurs, including entrepreneur Huda Kattan, owner of the cosmetics company Huda Beauty, and the Eyewear entrepreneur Karen Wazen, entrepreneur Gary Vaynerchuk, CEO of media and communications company VaynerX, and CEO of Rosberg X Racing, Nico Rosberg.

The conference will feature a series of discussions and workshops that will serve as a source of inspiration for entrepreneurs seeking innovative solutions.

It also aims to have a positive incentive to take innovative measures that keep up with the development of the entrepreneurship environment at the local, regional, and international levels, as well as achieving post-pandemic economic recovery for small enterprises.
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