Young entrepreneurs of developing countries with green, sustainable solutions have a chance to pitch their business ideas to win seed funding at a global conference organized by the United Nations and the Government of Mongolia.
The contest takes place as part of the World Export Development Forum, the flagship event of the Geneva-based International Trade Centre (ITC). ITC is the joint agency of the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, and focuses on connecting small businesses to global markets.
To enter, the entrepreneur must be under 35 years of age and the business must promote sustainability, circularity and/or the green economy. The company must be majority-run by a young person and be registered in a developing country. (See the list of eligible countries here.)
The top four finalists (one from Mongolia and at least three from other countries) will travel to Ulaanbaatar to pitch their businesses on 27 June, which is International Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day. Prizes include $5,000 to support business development; access to the Google Startups for Sustainable Development Programme; pitch training from ITC; links to investors for additional funding; international exposure through communications coverage from ITC; and a fully funded trip to Mongolia to attend the conference.

With countries hammered by the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the climate crisis, a weak global economy, and amplified by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, UN Secretary-General António Guterres sounded the alarm yesterday as he briefed Member States on the ‘Progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals: Towards a Rescue Plan for People and Planet’ report.
“Halfway to the deadline for the 2030 Agenda, we are leaving more than half the world behind. We have stalled or gone into reverse on more than 30 percent of the SDGs,” said the Secretary-General. “Unless we act now, the 2030 Agenda will become an epitaph for a world that might have been.”
The report reveals the number of people living in extreme poverty is higher than it was four years ago. Hunger has also increased and is now back at 2005 levels, and gender equality is some 300 years away. With current trends, only 30 percent of all countries will achieve SDG 1 on poverty by 2030.

Airlink, Southern Africa’s premier airline, today launched its new daily Johannesburg-Nairobi service, becoming the first private sector airline to compete on the route.
Airlink’s entry into the SA-Kenya market now provides greater choices for business and leisure travellers flying between the two major regional markets.
The new service schedule is designed to offer optimal connectivity through Airlink’s Johannesburg hub, with flights to and from destinations within South Africa, throughout Southern Africa and worldwide through Airlink’s constellation of partner carriers, which includes many of the leading long-haul global carriers.
Airlink operates comfortable and efficient 98-seat Embraer E190 jetliners on the new service.

President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory message to the Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernization and the World held at the Meet-the-World Lounge in Shanghai.State Councilor and Foreign Minister Qin Gang gave a keynote Speech at the Opening Ceremony of The Lanting Forum on Chinese Modernization.
President Xi pointed out that realizing modernization is a relentless pursuit of the Chinese people since modern times began. It is also the common aspiration of people of all countries. In pursuing modernization, a country needs to follow certain general patterns. More importantly, it should proceed from its own realities and develop its own features.
Ambassador Zhao Zhiyuan stressed that, after a long and arduous quest, the Communist Party of China has led the entire Chinese nation in finding a development path that suits China’s conditions. We are now building a strong country and advancing national rejuvenation on all fronts through a Chinese path to modernization.
China will provide new opportunities for global development with new accomplishments in Chinese modernization, bring more tangible benefits to Chinese and Ethiopian peoples, lend new impetus to humanity’s search for paths toward modernization and better social systems, and work with all countries to advance the building of a community with a shared future for mankind!