Human-Centered Innovation and Job Creation Take Center Stage in Global Dialogue
JINJU, South Korea – October 27, 2025 — The United Nations brought a powerful and inspiring message to the 2025 Jinju International Forum on Entrepreneurship: the future of humanity depends on innovative, values-driven entrepreneurship that creates opportunity and preserves human dignity.
Held in collaboration with the International Council for Small Business (ICSB), the session reflected the enduring partnership between ICSB and the United Nations — one rooted in the shared belief that entrepreneurship can be a force for peace, prosperity, and hope.
UN Leaders Call for Human-Centered Entrepreneurship
The UN-led session featured distinguished speakers, including Csaba Kőrösi, former President of the United Nations General Assembly, and Jehangir Khan, Secretary-General of the Council of Presidents of the UNGA.
Kőrösi called for a global reorientation of priorities to ensure that entrepreneurship fuels real economic progress and sustainability:
“Achieving global transformation will be the largest in human history — requiring over $90 trillion in reoriented investments toward real economic progress.”
Jehangir Khan emphasized the enduring importance of leadership rooted in entrepreneurship and empathy:
“Good entrepreneurship is the most precious resource of any society,” he said. “A nation can have wealth, but without leadership that empowers innovation and integrity, it will never succeed.”
The dialogue reaffirmed that entrepreneurship must remain human-centered, balancing innovation and inclusion in an age of rapid technological change.
ICSB’s Enduring Partnership with the United Nations
The United Nations’ presence in Jinju carried profound meaning for ICSB, whose relationship with the UN traces back decades.
Founded in 1955, ICSB was the first global organization dedicated to advancing small business and entrepreneurship worldwide. Through visionary leadership, ICSB became the founder of the United Nations Micro-, Small-, and Medium-sized Enterprises Day (MSME Day), now celebrated each year on June 27
In 2016, under the leadership of Dr. Ayman El Tarabishy, ICSB launched a global campaign to create a UN-recognized day celebrating MSMEs. This historic effort was supported by the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations, led by Ambassador Martín García Moritán, and the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Korea, led by Ambassador Oh Joon, who also served as President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).
Together, these missions worked with ICSB to draft and advance UN General Assembly Resolution A/RES/71/279, which was unanimously adopted on April 6, 2017. This act established June 27 as UN MSME Day, honoring small businesses as the backbone of economies and the lifeblood of communities.
Since then, MSME Day has united world leaders, entrepreneurs, and educators at UN Headquarters and around the world, celebrating MSMEs as anchors of human creativity, job creation, and resilience — even in times of crisis.
A Legacy of Purpose and Peace
Reflecting on the session and ICSB’s long history with the UN, Dr. Ayman El Tarabishy, ICSB President & CEO, emphasized the enduring role of the United Nations in today’s world:
“The United Nations has always been about ‘We the People.’ It remains humanity’s first harbor for Peace — and, more importantly these days, Hope.”
Dr. El Tarabishy noted that the Jinju Forum symbolized a bridge between global dialogue and local action, showing how entrepreneurship rooted in empathy can create tangible progress.
Jinju: The Capital of Korean Entrepreneurship
Hosting this UN session in Jinju, long recognized as the Capital of Korean Entrepreneurship, carried symbolic power. The city — birthplace of business pioneers who built global companies such as LG, Samsung, and GS Group — now serves as a hub for human-centered innovation.
Under the leadership of Mayor Jo Kyoo-il, Jinju has become the first city in Asia to connect the spirit of UN MSME Day directly with local development. The 2025 Forum further strengthened Jinju’s partnership with ICSB, expanding the ICSB Knowledge Hub in Asia to promote research, training, and collaboration centered on entrepreneurship, innovation, and inclusion.
The Path Forward
As ICSB celebrates its 70th Anniversary, its work with the United Nations continues to illuminate a simple truth: entrepreneurship is not only about building economies — it is about building hope.
From the early efforts of Ambassador Martín García Moritán and Ambassador Oh Joon to today’s ongoing collaboration in Jinju, the ICSB-UN partnership stands as a model of how global vision and local leadership can unite for humanity’s progress.
“Entrepreneurship gives people purpose, restores dignity, and reminds us that progress is measured not only in growth, but in hope,” said Dr. El Tarabishy.