The Israeli Mission to the United Nations, along with the President of the General Assembly, hosted last week a conference at the UN on promoting entrepreneurship as a means to tackle the world’s most pressing problems.

This event follows a December 2012 resolution on “Entrepreneurship for Development,” when 141 member states supported an Israel-initiated resolution to advance growth and prosperity in the developing world, according to a statement released by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“Israel is a young, dynamic, and creative country. This time we aren’t just going ‘public’ on Wall Street, we’re going public with 141 partners at the United Nations. The entire world can benefit from Israel’s knowledge, experience, and technology,” said Israel’s Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Ron Prosor.

Speakers included Ambassador Prosor, Secretary-General, the President of the General Assembly, and entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world.

Professor Dan Shechtman, who was among the panelists and received the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 2011, said, “It is our duty as scientists…to encourage our educated youth to become technological entrepreneurs. Those countries that nurture this knowhow will survive future financial and social crises.”

Ambassador Prosor added. “There’s a Hebrew expression that says, ‘Success has many parents, but failure is an orphan.’  While most people fear and avoid failure, entrepreneurs know that it’s impossible to live without failing.  The spirit of entrepreneurship is to challenge conventional wisdom, break the status quo, and persevere until you’ve changed the world.”

The conference was part of a campaign led by Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Israeli Mission to the UN, and MASHAV, Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation. The campaign shines a spotlight on Israeli innovation and ingenuity as a model for poverty eradication, financial growth, and creativity in marketing and technology.