The Sun Has Come Up in the United States and Donald Trump Is the New President

Bringing Global Attention to Egypt’s Growing Technology and Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

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Egyptian entrepreneur Mai Medhat, founder of the Eventtus online platform, got to sit on stage with US President Obama and Facebook founder, Mark Zuckerberg, at the Global Entrepreneurship Summit (GES) held recently in Silicon Valley. Why?

Find out here:  Egyptian Entrepreneur Mai Medhat:  'I Dreamt Big From Day One'

But we cannot contain ourselves by holding back on Mai's comment:

“I did not imagine that one day I would have a discussion with the US president, but from day one I dreamt big and that my company would become global,” she said in an interview with the Egyptian Mail newspaper.

SMEs Declare the Importance of Global Trade

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The Trans-Pacific Partnership, between the United States, Japan and 10 other countries in the Asia-Pacific region, stands to reduce many of the barriers that smaller businesses struggle with in particular, have reached a final agreement on the largest regional trade accord in history, bubbling up what could be a tough fight for U.S. President Obama because he has to secure approval from Congress.  Further, the deal still has to be ratified by lawmakers in each country.   The TPP would affect 40 percent of the world economy.

Many business leaders -- big and small -- have said that increasing access to international markets would enable them to hire more workers to keep up with new demand.

Need more background on TPP?  Visit Trans-Pacific Partnership - At a Glance and The Trans-Pacific Partnership -- USTR.gov

Read more:  Business Leaders Applaud Trans-Pacific Partnership

World: It's Not Personal, It's Business

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President Barack Obama has been criticized as being a bit chilly -- need I say more impersonal -- in his dealings with other world leaders.

"My own sense is that he doesn't really have good buds" among world leaders, said Peter Hakim, president emeritus of the Inter-American Dialogue, a think tank. "He can pick up the phone and talk to any leader and get a good response, but it's business."

How could it be any other way?

Read:  "For Obama, It's Business Before Friendship With World Leaders," The Republic

Do Small Businesses Benefit From the National Export Initiative?

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I've been wondering about this for some time. Do small businesses really benefit from the National Export Initiative? Every time a journalist/reporter asks me about it, I say the same thing: I am not so sure.

Has the number of U.S.A. small business exporters changed much over the last two decades let alone the last four months? I've tracked a number of anywhere from 240,000-270,000 SB exporters.

Anyone know what the current number is considering the BIG export push?

Please weigh in if you have the facts, thanks.

Read more here.

FYI: small business Boeing Chairman, President and CEO Jim McNerney is Chair of the President’s Export Council

Spirit of Global Cooperation

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If there is one thing that came out of the 34-nation Summit of the Americas, it's the spirit of global cooperation to America's hemispheric neighbors.

Read more here and here.

World, Meet Our New President of the United States of America: Barack Obama

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Making history, together.

Video of inauguration.