I am pleased to announce a range of measures to foster entrepreneurship among young people in Australia and other Commonwealth nations. The measures are a part of the Youth for the Future initiative I announced at the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Coolum in March 2002.
The centrepiece of these measures is to be the Creating Common Wealth Commonwealth Youth Enterprise Development Forum, which Australia will be hosting on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland from 9-12 November 2003. The Commonwealth's future lies in the hands of its youth and their practical abilities to build communities of the future. The Creating Common Wealth Forum is designed to foster partnerships between young people, governments, the business sector and the community to develop business strategies.
I have invited my fellow Commonwealth leaders to send national delegations to the Forum and have warmly commended its objectives to them.
The government has also decided to fund in parallel the establishment of an exciting new initiative in Australia, the Enterprise Network for Young Australians (ENYA), to support and promote young entrepreneurs. ENYA was created by three dynamic young Australians that the government sent to the APEC Young Leaders Summit in Mexico last year. These young Australians are keen to share their experiences and help other young entrepreneurs. We need to back our young business and social entrepreneurs and the government is getting behind these young leaders.
Australia's work to encourage youth entrepreneurs - including the Creating Common Wealth Youth Enterprise Development Forum - is one of four strands of the Youth for the Future initiative. AusAID has been working on three further strands - youth volunteering, youth mentoring, and youth leadership - and is implementing a range of programmes to support Commonwealth nations in these fields.
Creating Common Wealth is an opportunity to reap the benefits of being part of the global community of Commonwealth nations. I encourage the Australian business community to recall the common values and traditions that unite us and consider providing assistance to enable developing countries to support their delegations.