3 lessons to be learned from the MiSK Global Forum 2019

Flashy name dropping

Adrian Grenier, the star actor of the hit series Entourage, David Oyelowo, notably revealed by The Butler and Selma, the American artist Prince Ea, the Duchess of York Sarah Ferguson… That’s for the glamour touch. Because in addition to showbiz personalities, the 2019 edition of the MiSK Global Forum (MGF) in Riyadh attracted the best in global business, industry and technology entertainment.

Shinji Shimizu, producer of the famous Japanese animation studio TOEI, Mario Centola, vice-president of international operations and development at the American amusement park giant Six Flags, Frenchmen Didier Truchot, CEO of the survey firm Ipsos and Patrick Pouyanné, CEO of Total… Everyone came to share their advice, their experiences and motivate a full audience – 7,000 participants, the highest attendance score in the history of MGF – about the uncertainties of the job market or entrepreneurship.

”When we look at the aspirations of young people, what frightens them, what gives them reasons to move, we help the world to be better off. In our work, we observe, for example, that they want to progress, to be recognized, respected, to work in companies or institutions that contribute something to society, or to achieve a balance between their private and professional lives.

Saudi Arabia, the host country

The 2019 edition of the MiSK Global Forum took place on the sidelines of the launch, a few weeks earlier, of tourist visas for Saudi Arabia. A possible consequence of this administrative turnaround: the event counted, among its 7,000 participants, 120 different nationalities, making this event the most cosmopolitan in its young history.

The opening of Saudi Arabia has also taken a prominent place in the central debate. As part of its economic diversification policy under the Vision 2030 plan, the country has made tourism an essential part of its post-oil economy. In this context, the MGF has provided a resounding response to ambitious tourism development projects, including the Red Sea Project, which aims to attract tourists to the west Saudi coast.

”Tourism is a very important economic sector, it represents more than 10% of the world’s GDP and employs 1 in 10 people worldwide. In Saudi Arabia today, tourism represents only 3.4%, so there is enormous potential for growth in this sector. For the young people of this country, we will create tourist infrastructures where we hope to welcome 100,000,000,000 visitors per year. This will create a need for more than a million jobs.”

An ode to entrepreneurship and innovation

Work Reworked, or how to rethink work… That was the central theme of this 2019 edition of the MiSK Global Forum. And it must be said that the forum covered the whole issue: the future of employment in the face of technological innovations, the place of the human being in the workplace, the workplace, new employment opportunities, career choices, management… In short, as many constructive and inspiring debates on the theme of work.

But even more than the notions of work or employment, it was entrepreneurship and innovation that governed this meeting. In addition to the many motivational speeches in support of the entrepreneurial adventure, the event was the stage for the Entrepreneurship World Cup (EWC), the Entrepreneurship World Cup, which saw 5 innovative start-ups rewarded for their projects and business models.

The great thing about the Entrepreneurship World Cup is that it’s a whole one-year entire progress where entrepreneurs get access to training, access to education and coaching, they can get ready for the competitions. They move on to one-to-one mentoring sessions, where they get more advice from a mentor and they get the necessary tools to move on and succeed.