Bangalore, March 29:

International business and policy leaders will attend a three-day World Summit on Innovation and Entrepreneurship (WSIE), beginning April 1 in Muscat, Oman, aiming to catalyse growth and promote investment in emerging markets in Europe, Asia, the Americas and Africa.

“The WSIE is very important for Asia,” said Jayant Pendharkar, vice-president and head of global marketing at Tata Consultancy Services, who will be participating in the conference.

“It will focus on major innovations in some countries. Entrepreneurship is important to the survival of economies. Without it, there is no innovation,” a release quoted him as saying. The summit is hosted by Sultanate of Oman, and coordinated by Global Leadership Team (GLT).

Sam Hamdan, founder and chairman of GLT, said, “It is a privilege to unite such globally renowned political and business leaders in the largest gathering ever in the Middle East.” The Summit will attempt to address the gaps in education, technology and science as cited in the 2003 UNDP Arab Human Development Report.

Sponsors of the event include Cisco, PepsiCo, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard. UN agencies including the United Nations Development Programme, The UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia and the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean will also participate in the event.