Entrepreneurship Awards Programme but will also lead to the realization of the Post 2015 Sustainable Development Goals

Ladies and Gentlemen;

　　The UN-Habitat Youth Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award we are launching today has been designed to promote sustainable development by recognizing, honoring and promoting a young generation of leaders who are in a unique position to leverage the power of invention and innovation to establish businesses which will contribute to solving the social, economic and environmental challenges facing human kind today;

　　Many of you gathered here today are aware that more than half of humanity is living in towns and cities with majority of this population being young people aged between 15-24 years who are disproportionately affected by major rural and urban challenges such as migration,unemployment, poverty and insecurity. However significant percentages of this young people continue to work and are at the forefront of global change and innovation.

　　Against this background, the three parties, UN-Habitat, CDO-Orient and IESCO agreed to work together promote young innovations and empower them establish innovative initiatives that will not only improve their livelihoods but will also create employment for many young people as demonstrated be Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg who both started their inventions during their youthful years.

　　There are a range of policy tools for strengthening domestic capacity – entrepreneurship promotion, human resource and skills development, provision of business development services, technology development support, promotion of business and technology incubation for innovation learning, promoting linkages and cluster development in special economic zones to stimulate investment for sustainable development.

　　Notably, knowledge-driven innovation is considered the most important factor in global manufacturing competitiveness. Nevertheless, innovation can only be driven by a critical mass of quality human capital with requisite skills to drive the technological development process. China as with the most advanced developed nations has evolved an education system with close ties between universities and industry and a vocation training component in their education system, all of which contribute to their top ranks in knowledged-driven innovation capabilities. China and other emerging economies also link business and technology incubators with universities and research centres in related areas.

　　MAIN POINTS

　　Based on our common goals and objectives, we have realized that we can do more through joining our efforts in the following areas;

　　a) Developing the UN-Habitat Youth Innovations and Entrepreneurship Awards Programme;

　　b) Establishing “Beijing Secretariat UN-Habitat Youth Empowerment and Ecological Safety Project Committee”

　　c) Organizing a youth Assembly on Ecological Civilization and safety preceding the Awards Ceremony

　　d) Hosting the Youth Innovations and Entrepreneurship Awards prize giving ceremony here at the Orient MGM International Hotel, surrounded by the serenic beauty of mountains and forests and the dragon lake, a fitting example of a beautiful Chinaand;

　　e) Establishing the Youth Innovations and Nurturing Center in Qinglong Lake area in Beijing, China

　　I have seen and experienced over the years that this country that has been the cradle of age old civilization, everything is possible.China"From a third-world economy China has become the world's third economy in just 30 years.".

　　The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games had a slogan -- One World, One Dream. From this very soil that this unique hotel is situated, we all can contribute through our corporation, to the realisationof the dreams and aspirations of the young women and men all over the world . UN Habitat is indeed very proud to be part of this endeavor.

　　With these few remarks, I now officially wish to mark the Beijing Secretariat UN-Habitat Youth Empowerment and Ecological Safety Project Committee opened and the 2015 UN-Habitat Youth Innovation and entrepreneurship Awards launched.

　　I thank you for your attention.