On June 2, 2025, leaders and changemakers from around the world gathered in Indianapolis, USA, for the opening session of the Global Entrepreneurship Congress (GEC). This session, called Startup Nations Ministerial and themed “Policy Solutions for the Boldest Among Us”, brought together government ministers, policy advisors, and ecosystem builders from over 200 countries, all committed to shaping the future of entrepreneurship.
As Saint Lucia celebrates its first-ever delegation to GEC with Justus William and Jordann Norbert, it’s important to reflect on why the presence of policymakers, especially our Minister for Commerce Hon. Emma Hippolyte, Minister for Equity Hon. Joachim Henry and other government agencies such as the Youth Economy Agency Saint Lucia and SBDC, Saint Lucia, is critical at events like these.
The Startup Nations Ministerial guides government leaders through a high-level deep dive on how the public sector can better encourage more new and young businesses to start and grow. Participating governments from across the development spectrum engage in dialogue around new policy approaches and experiments to increase economic growth and job creation through a vibrant entrepreneurial economy.
Participants in the Startup Nations Ministerial are national government ministers with full or partial jurisdiction over policies to support entrepreneurs and their officially designated envoys or heads of agencies with entrepreneurship-specific authority.
The Ministerial convened government representatives from Algeria, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Bermuda, Brazil, Cambodia, Cameroon, Chad, Chile, Costa Rica, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Hungary, Indonesia, Iraq, Nigeria, Oman, Paraguay, South Africa, The Gambia, Uruguay, Zambia, Zimbabwe, among others.
It also featured contributions from GEN Knowledge Partners, including:
- Jon Potter, Head of Entrepreneurship Policy Unit, OECD
- Annalisa Primi, Head of Economic and Transformation Division, OECD Development Centre
- Tom Sullivan, Vice President of Small Business Policy, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
- JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO, Startup Genome
These sessions go beyond inspiration; they are practical, high-level strategy meetings where countries align policies to better support their entrepreneurs, especially those who need it most: youth, women, creatives, and rural innovators.
By not being in the room, Saint Lucia risks missing out on:
- Access to global funding and investment models
- Exposure to entrepreneurship-enabling policy frameworks
- Regional partnership opportunities
- Strategies that remove barriers for the very entrepreneurs we claim to support
Government officials from across the world were present. They came because they understand that entrepreneurship is a national priority, not just a private pursuit.
It’s time for Saint Lucia to take the same approach. If our leaders want to create meaningful and transformative change, they must show up where global policy is shaped.
Let this be a call for stronger political will and a real commitment to inclusive economic development through entrepreneurship.
Because Saint Lucia’s entrepreneurs are showing up. It’s time the policymakers did too.