All stakeholders are urged to give startups the opportunity to show potential and contribute to development efforts in their own countries, according to H.E. Mohammed Boussaid, Minister of Economy and Finance of the Kingdom of Morocco at the opening of the High-Level Policy Forum, “Venture Finance in the Arab World” taking place in Skhirat, Morocco from November 20 – 21, 2017.

Morocco is developing comprehensive policy for financing, which will ensure good governance in institutions as well as provide tax incentives, and guarantees to institutions that support startups.

Organized by 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), the forum aims to explore innovative approaches to support entrepreneurship finance in the Arab world.

“Policymakers must provide an enabling environment that ensures startups survive while at the same time, ensuring a balance between better outcomes for startups and consumer protection,” says Norbert Mumba, the Deputy Executive Director of AFI during his opening speech.

It is expected that the forum comes up with appropriate recommendations at the domestic and regional levels that contribute to enhancing financing for startups in the Arab countries. These recommendations should be translated into program activities and technical assistance to be provided to Arab countries under the newly established Financial Inclusion in the Arab Region Initiative (FIARI).

The aim of FIARI is to help accelerate conducive policies and actions for enhancing Arab societies’ access to financial services through an effective coordination mechanism, by supporting the implementation of national financial inclusion policies. The regional initiative is using financial inclusion as a driving force for sustainable economic and social development, aligned with the range of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs).

The High-Level Policy Forum gathered more than 150 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.

Take a look at tweets from the forum.