World's Indigenous businesses meet in Toronto in August

Circle of Trade Show Guide Supplement

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Hundreds of Indigenous people will have a chance to visit, exchange ideas, network and make new friends and business associates at the World Summit of Indigenous Entrepreneurs (WISE)

The first ever WSIE will be held Aug.18 to 20 in Scarborough, Ont.

Indigenous entrepreneurs from more than 40 countries, including Canada, will be part of the three-day event, which will include entrepreneurs in food services, agriculture, biotechnology, trade and investment, cultural entertainment, imports, exports, the financial and banking sectors, oil and gas and in mineral and natural resources.

Workshops, plenary sessions, guest speakers, a trade show, and A Lets Make A Deal Session will be part of the gathering. The theme for the conference is 'Indigenous Entrepreneurs and World Trades: A New Mechanism for Shared Prosperity'.

Sujit Chowdhury, global co-ordinator for the summit, said the theme came from consulting Indigenous people. Indigenous entrepreneurs from 10 or 15 countries were asked to explain what first came to their minds about Indigenous entrepreneurs and global affairs. He said that almost unanimously everyone said that they were looking for shared prosperity.

"They said 'We want to deal with the country where we live and we want to make sure that the prosperity is shared'."

The summit is hosted by the Aboriginal banking component of the Bank of Montreal and is sponsored by Indian and Northern Affairs of Canada and Aboriginal Business Canada. It is organized by the institute for leadership development-a United Nations global partnership institute.

Every 10 years, the United Nations dedicates a decade to a grand cause and this year is the end of the United Nations Decade of Indigenous Peoples. The summit is in honor of the decade.

According to Chowdhury, during this decade many national, regional and global activities relating to Indigenous affairs have been held around the world, mostly engaging in social, political and cultural dialogue; however, this is the first time an attempt has been made to bring Indigenous businesses from around the world to a single platform.

He said a summit of this nature is not only timely, but paramount, considering the fact that a mechanism must be facilitated whereby global Indigenous entrepreneurs can come together to share experiences and best practices and to explore opportunities for joint venture development.

He said that for the last year a number of senior executives, including officials of the United Nations have been planning this event.

"Hence, the World Summit on Indigenous Entrepreneurs is a chance for the groups to come together to share experiences and successes, such as, What has been successful? What has not been successful? What failed? Why did it fail? And how can we move forward to explore joint ventures and opportunities to engage entrepreneurs, especially Indigenous entrepreneurs from across Canada and from around the world, as well as non-Aboriginal entrepreneurs who are interested in doing business with the Aboriginal entrepreneurs? The support and the response for this kind of summit from around the world has been phenomenal," he said.

An Aboriginal Elder will open the summit with prayer, and an honor dance also will be performed.

"We are bringing the world here for the Indigenous people of Canada, and it is a marvelous opportunity for them to seize the moment and that is exactly what we plan to do. We are giving it to them and this is their home," he said.

"We are certainly looking forward to a successful gathering. We are getting quite a bit of interest from this, so this will be pretty exciting. It is a very, very worthwhile opportunity," said Ron Jamieson, a Mohawk member of the Six Nations of the Grand River, who is also the chair of the summit.

"In the future our goal is to repeat this summit dedicated to Indigenous entrepreneurship every year or a year-and-a-half, not just in Toronto, but i other host cities across Canada. At a time when global trade is so mobile and Indigenous entrepreneurship is a greater force, why not exploring an Indigenous common market?" he asked.

For further information contact Sujit Chowdhury (WSIE) at 416-650-8081 or 416-736-5646. Fax 416-736-5693 www.wtuglobal.org