Global Intrapreneurship Forum (GIForum) 2012, a global gathering dedicated to supporting growth of intrapreneurship within regional and international companies and for corporate entrepreneurs, will be held from May 27 to 28 in Bahrain.

Announcing the forum launch, The Firm, an international private members club and marketplace for business development and intrapreneurship, said the event will focus on building further awareness of the concept of intrapreneurship.

GIForum 2012 will be the first global conference of its kind dedicated to supporting the growth and development of intrapreneurship within corporations and SMEs, and for corporate entrepreneurs from the Mena region and their counterparts around the world, said The Firm in a statement.

In essence, intrapreneurs are those individuals within large corporations or SMEs who have a deep knowledge and insights of business gaps and opportunities in their market and industries but who lack the business skills, acumen and network to effectively transform new ideas into viable commercial ventures for their companies or themselves.

GIForum 2012 also aims to draw attention to the importance of intrapreneurship and the role it plays in driving economic growth and diversification both within companies and economies overall.

It is expected to attract over 500 regional and international practitioners of intrapreneurship and participants to address the following challenges: How to channel intrapreneurial energy into our economies, How to develop the market-place for intrapreneurship, How to network with the emerging providers of intrapreneurship related services, How to network with investors, How to plan for early retirement and How to shift from an intrapreneur to a successful businessmen and business women, among other topics.

Among the confirmed keynote speakers are Dr. Gifford Pinchot, a leading exponent of intrapreneurship, known as the “godfather of intrapreneurship”.

Dr Pinchot is responsible for coining the words “intrapreneur”, “intrapreneuring” and “intrapreneurship”. He is also a member of The Firm’s international advisory board and a leading author, speaker and consultant on launching businesses and innovation management, having helped to launch over 700 businesses, several of which are each doing over a billion dollars in sales.

Commenting on the launch, Abdullah AlSubyani, founder and CEO of The Firm, said: 'We are delighted to announce the launch of the GIForum 2012 in Bahrain, an ideal location and a longstanding hub for business and trade and a strategic gateway to the fast growing markets of the GCC region.'

According to him, this is the first forum dedicated to both building awareness of and promoting intrapreneurship on a global level.

'The concept of intrapreneurship is an important one in corporate growth and local economic development and this forum aims to become the leading annual event dedicated to bringing together the world’s leading exponents of intrapreneurship, aspiring intrapreneurs and those investors, individual and institutional, that are interested in finding and supporting new and exciting ideas and innovations,' he noted.

'We expect those participating in the forum to learn or further strengthen the qualities required to develop intrapreneurial skills as well as leverage this opportunity to network with participating corporates, investors and innovators in order to begin the practical transformation of pioneering new business ideas into new business realities that drive growth at the individual, corporate, country or regional level and across multiple industry sectors,' AlSubyani said.

'These include Hydrocarbons, infrastructure, Aviation, Clean Energy, Education, Financial Services, Healthcare, Information & Communication Technologies (ICT), Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Media, Mining, Tourism, Transportation and Power & Water,' he added.

Abdul Rahim Naqi, secretary general of Federation of GCC Chambers (FGCCC) said:'We are delighted to support the GIFroum as it present an excellent platform to encourage the Intrapreneurship spirit among the Intrapreneurship in the GCC region and to develop business opportunities between the GCC and the Global markets.'

' FGCCC will support this event strategically and will encourage all its members to attend the event. It is one of the Strategic Partners for the event,' he added.--TradeArabia News Service