Within the framework of the 9th Global Young Parliamentarians Conference in Hanoi, Vietnam from September 14-17, 2023, the second session on "Innovation and Startups" was chaired by Mr. Wilson Soto Palacios, Member of the Congress of the Republic of Peru, Member of Inter-Parliamentary Board of the Forum of Young Parliamentarians

After the presentations of Mr. Denis Naughten, Member of the Parliament of the Republic of Ireland, Chairman of the IPU Working Group on Science and Technology, Founder and CEO Sky Mavis, Director of HICOOL and experts from UNDP, 18 opinions were exchanged and discussed by parliamentarians from other countries, representatives of affiliated organizations and observers, which focused on: (i) Improving institutions and policies to actively promote innovation and Startup ecosystem (including youth entrepreneurship) towards inclusive and sustainable development; (ii) Experiences of parliaments in legislative work and supervision and the role of young parliamentarians to promote innovation and Startup ecosystems; (iii) Development of artificial intelligence, contributing to the effective implementation of sustainable development goals (SDGs); (iv) Proposals to parliaments on building and improving institutions, policies and solutions to minimize AI related risks.

As a result of discussion, we acknowledge and appreciate the experiences of states in developing policies and laws and their achievements in promoting innovation and startup as well as the role of parliamentarians in this process; We hereby recommend parliaments to:

Strengthen the innovation and start-up eco-system, including by developing legal frameworks for innovation and start-ups, scaling up our budgets to support to youth-led and youth-inclusive enterprises, start-ups and innovation initiatives of the youth, including through funding, grants and technical assistance, and making sure they are aligned with the SDGs, especially on empowering young women;

Promote education curricula that provide necessary skills to prepare the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs, with an emphasis on digital skillsets. Special focus should also be given to young women, including by incentivizing more to study in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields;

Urge the IPU to consider possible avenues within existing structures for engaging on innovation and digital transformation issues;

Research for establishing a global network of young parliamentarians for innovation;

Strengthen the nexus between the scientific and parliamentary communities to create more space for science to contribute to peace and sustainable development, with priority being the involvement of youth;

Encourage start-ups and innovation initiatives among the youth and students, women, and strengthen gender mainstreaming, relating them with SDG, develop a separate program for digital innovation and start-ups;

Promote innovation and sustainable entrepreneurship in all fields, with a focus on FoodTech, as a way to actively contribute to the process of implementing SDGs, solving food security issues and end famine.

 Thank you for your attention.