"The Saudi market is in full swing. Investment opportunities are real." On the occasion of the @G20_YEA, #Generation2030 and its partner @CTZEntrepreneur offered a selection of French entrepreneurs a glimpse of the possibilities that #KSA has to offer. pic.twitter.com/zB9V09iEjH

— Generation 2030 (@generation2030) November 16, 2020

“Make a real impact”

As a result of the global health crisis, the G20 YEA was organized on the web with a multitude of conferences, speeches and virtual exchanges broadcast live on the event’s digital channels. Thus, unable to honor the trip to Saudi Arabia, the French delegation for this summit met in Paris before and during the event for several working and brainstorming sessions.

As has been the case for the past 10 years, it is the association Citizen Entrepreneurs that represents France at this G20 YEA and is in charge of animating the French talks. “Citizen Entrepreneurs is the platform that allows entrepreneurs under 45 years of age to have international support, to represent France at the G20 YEA summit and to have a real impact by making recommendations to the French government”, the entrepreneur and president of the association Areeba Rehman reminds us.

“Connecting Talent”

For this “Saudi” G20 YEA: Citizen Entrepreneurs has formed a partnership with the association Generation 2030. The objective for the latter was to familiarize young French entrepreneurs with international aspirations with the Saudi economic and social ecosystem. Thus, among the conferences organized by Citizen Entrepreneurs in Paris ahead of the G20 Summit of Young Entrepreneurs, several were dedicated to learning about Saudi Arabia and co-hosted by Generation 2030.

“I have learnt that Saudi Arabia is a country that is completely open to the world with a young population that is keen on digitalisation.”

Laetitia Maffei, founder of Danae

“We do networking, that is to say we connect young French and Saudi talents in all fields,” explains Timothée Dufour, executive director of the association. This is what this partnership is all about: connecting the two cultures and allowing, in this case, the French to see opportunities in the Saudi kingdom.

“A country that opens up”

Globally unknown in France, Saudi Arabia is gradually establishing itself as an entrepreneurial Eldorado like other countries in the Middle East region such as the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. With a population composed of 70% young people under 30 years old, a connected society that is also culturally and socially open, the kingdom now aspires to attract many foreign investors and entrepreneurs, a mission which Generation 2030 is working on.

“It has allowed us to better understand the Saudi ecosystem, to see all the opportunities there are and how it is developing, we are very interested in integrating a structure and why not our skills and technologies” saysIbrahima Sissoko, founder ofHilt Technology Engineering, a new technology consulting firm. “I’ve noticed that Saudi Arabia is a country that is completely open to the world with a young population and keen on digitalization, it’s very interesting,” saidLaetitia Maffei, CEO ofDanae, a company dedicated to digital artistic creation. In any case, the message has been heard on the French side.