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Rt
Hon Rhodri Morgan AM, First Minister, Welsh Assembly Government.
www.wales.gov.uk |
Invitation
to Wales
It
is a great pleasure to welcome the 29th Annual ISBE conference to Wales
– the first visit since the creation of the
National Assembly for Wales – and I wholeheartedly endorse its aims and
ambitions. The focus of the conference fits
naturally with the objectives of the Welsh Assembly Government, which
strongly supports the role of enterprise in the continued development of
our strong and dynamic knowledge-driven
economy.
Strong,
innovative and competitive businesses are essential for the economy of
Wales. A thriving economy raises standards of
living and brings better health and well-being for our communities.
Devolution of power seven years ago gave us new
powers and new opportunities to make Wales a better
and more prosperous place. The Welsh Assembly Government’s success in
strengthening the economy and creating better
jobs and skills reflects our commitment to ensuring a sustainable future
for our nation.
Wales
offers a modern infrastructure and a highly skilled workforce living in
vibrant communities across a country rich in
landscape, culture and heritage. The Assembly Government sets high
priority on creating an environment for
businesses to start up, grow and prosper. We were the first nation in
Europe to introduce and fund an Entrepreneurship
Action Plan to promote the long term entrepreneurial
development of the economy.
Most
of the really successful economies in the world are the most
entrepreneurial. A successful future for the
Welsh economy depends on a strong culture of enterprise – because
entrepreneurship is not only about wealth
creation and employment generation; but also about building confidence,
greater social equality and a whole range of
valuable skills.
Rt
Hon Rhodri Morgan AM, First Minister, Welsh Assembly Government. |
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The
Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Gareth Neale, CBE, BA, LLB
www.cardiff.gov.uk |
Invitation
to Cardiff
Cardiff
is a vibrant cosmopolitan capital and one of the UK's leading conference
and event destinations. It claimed top spot in a recent Conde-Nast poll of
the UK's most user-friendly cities.
The
City has everything for business and leisure tourists and it is all within
a stone's throw of the city centre. It has a wealth of history,
architecture, sport, shopping, museums, bars, restaurants and a castle.
Your
Conference will be held in our spacious City Hall which is the centrepiece
of one of the world's finest civic centres. It was built in the English
Renaissance style and opened in 1906, a year after Cardiff was granted its
city status. Within the magnificent exterior carved from Portland Stone
can be found elegant rooms to meet all expectations for plenary sessions,
breakout rooms plus ample catering, networking and exhibition areas.
May
I invite you all to Cardiff and assure you of a warm welcome and superb
service from the City Council and the many local hotels, restaurants and
visitor attractions. You may be interested to note that your Conference
will take place during the week prior to the “Autumn International”
Rugby Test Match when Wales meet Australia in the marvellous Millennium
Stadium on Saturday 4th November. Why not stay over for an exciting
weekend in Cardiff?
The
Rt. Hon The Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Councillor Gareth Neale, CBE, BA, LLB. |
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Prof
David Brooksbank, Conference Chair
www.glam.ac.uk |
Invitation
to Conference
The
29th Annual ISBE Conference returns to the capital city of Wales for the
first time since 1988, to be hosted by the University of Glamorgan. The
Conference theme builds on the renewed emphasis nationally and
internationally on entrepreneurship in small, medium and large
organisations. The diversity within this field and the continuing
emergence of new areas present exciting challenges to policy makers,
practitioners, educators and researchers. Such developments directly
reflect the interests of the Institute and our main Sponsors, the Welsh
Assembly Government and the Small Business Service.
A
key aim of ISBE 2006 is to bridge the gap between theory and practice in
entrepreneurship and SME development and to highlight the practical and
policy implications of recent research and experience. We want to engage
and share experiences with a wider international community, recognising
that entrepreneurs now operate on a global stage. Improving understanding
of the contexts, policies and practices will not only inform support for
SMEs domestically but also prepare them for the challenges on the wider
global stage.
This
year’s Conference will see a particular emphasis on weaving policy
themes with academic research. The ten tracks at the conference capture
all of the essential areas of academic research, as well as wide
practitioner engagement. There will also be a mixture of policy debates
and round-table discussions to allow the issues that have emerged from
practice and research to be fully debated. In this way, I believe that we
will have a conference that is packed with sessions of interest to
everyone, whatever your background. I enthusiastically invite you to join
us at what promises to be, in Olympic Committee speak, “the best ISBE
conference yet!”
Professor
David Brooksbank, Conference Chair, Head of Department of Enterprise &
Economic Development, Director, Welsh Enterprise Institute, University of
Glamorgan Business School. |
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