Global Entrepreneurship Week is full of ambitious events, however France is taking it to the next level with the launch of "Les Journées de l'Entrepreneur."  With 1,000 events taking place across France and more than 1 million participants, the week is certain to change the way France looks at entrepreneurship.  

Not to be left out, the French Government is taking this opportunity to unveil its new department, aptly named "Auto-Entrepreneur."  Coming fully online in 2009, this entity is defined by Hervé Novelli, Secretary of State in charge of Trade and Industry, as an "anticrisis weapon." This new legal entity will be accessible to all salaried employees, young people, the unemployed, and the retired, who are seeking to start their own businesses to create extra income or to explore their passions.  

As a result, the Secretary of State hopes to see the creation of 100,000 self-employed citizens during the first half of 2009, and a similar figure for the second half of the year.  Eventually, the program hopes to up this number to 500,000 annually.  The Secretary of State is "very proud of this government" which he believes represents a modern society, eager to create.  To find out more about this initiative visit www.lautoentrepreneur.fr.

Here are some highlights from the first day of Global Entrepreneurship Week:

Three students from the Optical Institute Graduate School received a prize for the best "student entrepreneur" for their comprehension of environmental technology.

A Female Entrepreneurship round table dedicated to coaching women who want to set up their own businesses was hosted with the help of experienced managers.Three-hundred entrepreneurs from Northern France posed for a giant photograph on the "Place du Theatre" in Lille, in order to support entrepreneurship in their region.

The MEDEF (French employers organization), inaugurated "School-Enterprise Week" in Lyon, the partner town of the "Journées de l'Entrepreneur."