Rome: Young Entrepreneurs get Help at TransEuropaExpress Seminar

Young, budding entrepreneurs from 10 European countries meet at the 7th edition of TransEuropaExpress seminar in Rome. They're there to learn the ropes of bringing new business ideas to market. And the organisers of TransEuropaExpress hope programs like this one can make a dent in the sky-high unemployment rates among European youths.

[Lucio Battistotti: Chief of the EU Commission in Italy]:
“There are 8 countries where the unemployment among the young is more than 30% and Italy is one of them. When we get to Spain it's 47%: It’s a dramatic situation. ”

IT companies, business consulting projects, networking initiatives and microcredit to help disadvantaged people are some of the ideas young entrepreneurs have already brought to life.

[Ismail Chaib (Algeria), Open Bank Project]:
"...would be able to share its financial data with other stakeholders, for instance the non-profit would be able to share its financial transaction with the  donors, for instance. So I give you money, like you are non-profit and I give you money, and I see where this money is coming and where my money goes, basically. So that's the idea behind the open bank project."

The seminar helps with the more rigorous aspects of bringing innovative ideas to market.

[Ines Santos Silva, Co Founder, Startup Pirates]:
“What we do is to provide training and mentoring and help in the idea development to young people, finalists in university and recent graduates that want  to start their own company.  Most of them know how to develop a product, know how to develop an idea, but they don't know what the business model is, they don't know how to create a business plan and they don't know how to pitch to investors."

According to the Chief of the EU Commission in Italy, greater labor market participation among the young is key to an economically vibrant Europe.

[Lucio Battistotti, Chief of the EU Commission in Italy]):
“By not activating young people professionally, so those who have more ideas and more capacity to react, Europe loses its capacity to create a basis for the future. ”


NTD News, Rome, Italy