The Launch of the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor GEM, March, 2005

The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) research program is an annual assessment of the national level of entrepreneurial activity. Initiated in 1999 with 10 countries, it has expanded to 21 in the year 2000, 29 countries in 2001, and 37 countries in 2002. It expects 30 national teams in 2003. The research program, based on a harmonized assessment of the level of national entrepreneurial activity for all participating countries, involves exploration of the role of entrepreneurship in national economic growth. Systematic differences continue, with few highly entrepreneurial countries reflecting low economic growth. There is, further, a wealth of national features and characteristics associated with entrepreneurial activity

From its inception, the major objectives of the GEM research program have been to:

• Measure differences in the level of entrepreneurial activity between countries

• Probe for a systematic relationship between entrepreneurship and national economic growth

• Uncover factors that lead to higher levels of entrepreneurship

• Suggest policies that may enhance the national level of entrepreneurial activity.

The Gem report is based on nine components as follows:

• Presence of Financial Support

• overnment Policies

• Government Programs

• Education and Training

• Research and Development Transfer

• Internal Market Openness

• Commercial and Professional Infrastructure

• Access to Physical Infrastructure

• Cultural and Social Norms related to Entrepreneurship

YEA with a fund from the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation was able to register Jordan in this report; Jordan is the first Arab country to participate, the global report for the 2004 cycle.

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