US Embassy highlights International Education Week and Global Entrepreneurship Week

For the past two decades, the US Department of State, alongside the US Department of Education, has celebrated International Education Week (IEW) every November to promote the benefits of international education and exchange programs in more than 100 countries around the world.

This year, on November 16-20, the US Embassy in Manama will continue the tradition with a series of exciting social media spotlights on our education programs and virtual activities highlighting the US-Bahraini educational partnership.

Despite 2020 being an exceptional year due to challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, the cooperation enjoyed by the United States and Bahrain on numerous academic categories has been insurmountable.

For those reasons, I am pleased to highlight the robust interest in this year’s Fulbright Scholarship Program. I congratulate the distinguished Bahraini applicants who received the scholarship to pursue their post-graduate degrees in the United States and encourage all interested to consider this opportunity in the future.

Receiving international students from diverse backgrounds at the more than 4,000 US higher education institutions, and encouraging US students to study abroad, strengthens ties between the United States and countries around the world.

In turn, this develops the relationships between people and communities that are necessary to solve global challenges.

Although some international education and study abroad opportunities have been impacted by the pandemic, it remains important to highlight the benefits of international education in anticipation of a strong return for mobility to and from the United States.

Also, this same week, the United States commemorates Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW), which celebrates the entrepreneurs who serve their communities and bolster economies across the globe.

This year the embassy will organise and promote events and opportunities geared towards inspiring individuals from all backgrounds to follow in the footsteps of generations of entrepreneurs before them.

The US government is committed to promoting entrepreneurship internationally as a means to stimulate local economic growth, create better quality jobs, open new markets for US companies, and increase global economic security and prosperity.

This is especially important during the COVID-19 pandemic and the current uncertain economic climate. This year’s events will mark the 13th anniversary of GEW.

Since its inception in 2008, GEW has fostered the spirit of entrepreneurship globally each November, with millions of participants at thousands of events in now more than 170 countries and aims to celebrate self-starting innovators and connect entrepreneurs to potential collaborators, mentors, and investors

The U.S-Bahrain Free Trade Agreement continues to promote free trade and entrepreneurship between the two countries and underscores the robust US-Bahrain relationship.

The US Embassy in Bahrain has multiple entrepreneurship resources and experiences available for local entrepreneurs to take part in, such as our virtual talk on “Utilizing Artificial Intelligence to Advance your Start-Up” on November 17 at 11.00am ET.

Panelists Fraser Kitchell, Co-founder and CEO of KEF Robotics, Lakisha Hall, Director of Transformation and Strategy at IBM, and Vishal Kapur, Principal in Deloitte’s Strategy and Analytics practice will take part in the discussion. The event is open to the public and free of charge.

Therefore, I invite everyone to follow the various embassy social media platforms such as Twitter @USEmbassyManama, Facebook @ AmericanEmbassyManama, and Instagram Usembassybahrain to learn more about the exciting programs the embassy has in store for GEW and IEW, such as the Young Leaders Initiative, a US Department of State publication, “Start-Up Smart: A Handbook for Entrepreneurs”, and the US Department of State’s Global Women’s Mentoring Partnership, along with finding opportunities on studying in the United States and our multiple exchange programs offered throughout the year.