16th International Entrepreneurship Forum 2017

The 16th edition of the International Entrepreneurship Forum (IEF) Conference with the theme “Sustainable Entrepreneurship and Economic Development” was held in Kathmandu. Hosted by King’s College in collaboration with Essex Business School, London, the event was inaugurated by Minister for Irrigation, Sanjay Kumar Gautam. Minister Gautam said that organisation of IEF Conference in Nepal was aptly timed given the urgent need of promotion of entrepreneurship in the country. Referring to the outflow of migration from Nepal to abroad, he stressed on the need for alternative livelihood through entrepreneurship which according to him should be made sustainable for achieving individual and national success. Keynote speaker, Professor of Essex Business School, Jay Mitra, said entrepreneurship is essentially about economic, social, cultural and personal value creation; whereas, sustainability is about ‘innovating out of the status quo’ to create value. Calling for robust solutions to problems, he emphasised the sustainable use of resources of people, technologies and new forms of financial, social and environmental capital. This is the first time that the IEF Conference has been organised in Nepal with an objective to promote the entrepreneurial culture and push forward the entrepreneurship sector. According to the college, a total of 60 papers, including 30 international papers, based on sub-themes of entrepreneurship versus sustainable entrepreneurship: values of sustainable entrepreneurship, business start-up and sustainable entrepreneurship, sustainable entrepreneurship anddevelopment and growth and women in sustainable entrepreneurship, among others, were presented during the conference.