The proceedings of the 2nd edition of the USA-Maghreb conference on entrepreneurship opened on Tuesday in Marrakech with the participation of some 400 speakers active in joint commercial projects and programmes. Placed under the theme "Maghreb Entrepreneurship", this conference serves as an opportunity for entrepreneurs from Maghreb countries and their American counterparts to exchange ideas, forge partnership and cooperation ties, and above all to explore adequate means to create new jobs.

This meeting aims to bring about business projects and partnerships between the USA and the Maghreb, to improve cross-border trade between Maghreb countries, and to promote the sharing of ideas and experiences in sectors related to entrepreneurship, with a view to promoting development in the region. The work of "Partners for a New Beginning" (PNB) of the North Africa Partnership for Economic Opportunity (NAPEO), this two-day conference will also examine methods of financing emerging companies, with a particular interest in facilitating the sponsorship of projects led by young entrepreneurs and large companies.

The PNB-NAPEO programme thus concerns entrepreneurship, education and exchange, science, technology, and arts and culture. It intends to reach 100,000 people in Maghreb countries over a period of five years. The objective of PNB-NAPEO is to be a network of entrepreneurs and business leaders from the USA and North Africa and a catalyst serving both communities to identify, initiate, and sustain projects promoting entrepreneurship and job creation, essentially for young people at the regional and local levels.