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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND
INNOVATION
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INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND
INNOVATION,
January 2014, Lahore, Pakistan (TBC).
1. THE STATE OF YOUTH IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC1 The Asian and
Pacific region has been experiencing rapid development in its
social and economicspheres over the course of recent decades. It is
home to great diversity and tremendousopportunities, and many young
people have managed to benefit from such social and
economicdynamism. With approximately 700 million people2 between
the ages15 and 24, South Asia is home to about 30 percent of
allyoung people in developing countries. Perhaps nowhere inthe
world are the opportunities and challenges presented by alarge
youth cohort felt more than in South Asia. As countriesthroughout
the region experience growing economies,expanding civil societies
and political transitions, there is asignificant opportunity to
harness the energy of young peoplein order to advance social,
economic, and human developmenton a massive scale. Yet, in order to
reap this demographicdividend young people must be equipped with
the skills andabilitiesthe human and social capitalto become
responsibleand productive citizens. The fact that the East Asia sub
region3 is home to the worlds lowest level of youthunemployment (8
per cent) demonstrates this reality quite plainly.Nevertheless,
significant numbers of youth across the region face a variety of
obstacles in theiraccess to employment, education, health care, and
other resources. Transition between education andemployment is one
of the main obstacles facing youth of the region, especially those
from South-East Asia and the Pacific. Asian and Pacific youth often
remain at the margins with regard toparticipation in the creation
of development policies. Such a lack of inclusion in the
decision-makingprocess could partially explain why large numbers of
Asian and 1http://social.un.org/youthyear/docs/ESCAPFinal5.pdf
2http://pravahstreaming.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/youth-development-through-civic-engagement-in-south-asia.pdf
3http://social.un.org/youthyear/docs/ESCAPFinal5.pdf
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Pacific youth engage in risky behavior. With the right policies
and programmes in place, however, Governments might be able tostem
this trend. Across the Asian and Pacific region, several countries
have well-developed and stand-alone nationalyouth policies, others
have youth policies embedded in their constitutions, and others
still lackcoherent youth policies, with different ministries and
departments charged with covering differentyouth issues. Only a few
of these national youth policies have already been developed
andimplemented in a manner that draws upon the specific needs of
young people, including those mostat risk.Nonetheless, more and
more countries are moving in the right direction, and are working
to securethe type of high-level economic and political will that is
necessary to put comprehensive youthpolicies into place.In
addition, United Nations entities in the Asian and Pacific region
are establishing partnerships toposition young people as a
cross-cutting priority. They are working not only to develop
effectiveanalytical products, but also to build capacity, a process
which includes the development of youthleaders, to the benefit of
young people and society at-large. A geographic map, provided by
the Kaiser Foundation, allows us to observe the global median age
by country4. The median age of the majority of Africa consists of
young women and men aged 15-29. Additionally, parts of Southern and
Western Asia, and South America comprise of many young individuals.
With these numbers expected to increase over the next 15 years,
there must be an accurate representation of youth participation in
creating policy for the developing world. As such, this verifies
the importance of ensuring young women and men have a voice in the
post-2015 development agenda. Asia houses the largest population of
youth worldwide.
4http://www.globalhealthfacts.org/data/topic/map.aspx?ind=81
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Figure: Global Median Age in 2012
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2. YOUTHENTREPRENEURS
Entrepreneurs , in particular young entrepreneurs, are by
definition
innovators,visionaries and risk takers. However, there are three
main issues that
need to beconsidered:
1. Skills development;
2. Access to information, know-how and technical assistance and
coachingduring
and beyond that start-up phase (non-financial services);
3. Access to adequate funding schemes (financial services);
Failing to address any of these issues may significantly restrict
the successfulimplementation of youth entrepreneurship projects. In
most emerging markets and developing countries, access to quality
informationon, for example, on how to register a business or where
to receive technicalassistance in a given field, is a restricted
privilege. Young entrepreneurs often do notreceive adequate
training or practical experience in vital areas, such as
projectformulation, and are therefore unable to produce fundamental
business, financialand marketing plans.Arguably, the biggest
challenge for young entrepreneurs in most emerging marketsand
developing countries is the absence of appropriate financial
schemes for startupcapital. Indeed, financial institutions tend to
consider most young peoples lack ofcollateral/guarantees and
limited financial history and experience as disqualifiers forthe
provision of credit lines. Likewise, equity capital is seldom made
available.
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3. EXAMPLES OF EXISTING YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS ASIAN INITIATIVES :
The Commonwealth-Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAAYE)5 is a
network of young entrepreneurs and the organizations that support
them. We have been established to continually promote the cause of
young entrepreneurs in our respective countries. We will convene
each year and in advance of the Commonwealth Heads of Government
Meeting & relevant Commonwealth Ministerial forums to provide a
platform to present a united voice of young entrepreneurs. The G20
Young Entrepreneurs Alliance (G20 YEA)6 is a global network of
young entrepreneurs and the organizations that support them. It was
established to convene each year in advance of the G-20 Summit,
with the aim of championing the importance of young entrepreneurs
to the G20 member nations and to share examples and practices. The
Alliance was officially created at the G20 Young Entrepreneurs
Summit, Toronto, Canada, 2010. The Young Entrepreneur Award7 is an
international business plan competition for promising students from
top universities in Asian countries. Our vision is to create an
Asian entrepreneurial platform that brings together Asia's youngest
entrepreneurs with investors to discover and produce technologies
and content with high potential. Please note: We are open for
candidates from all over the world! (not only Asian countries)
5http://www.caaye.com/ 6http://www.g20yea.com/
7http://www.asia-ii.org/yea/en/
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4. RATIONAL FOR A ASIA YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND INNOVATION
SUMMIT
Youth and My World Survey priorities clearly reflect the need to
focus on youth employment and entrepreneurship in Asia. See figure
below that shows that youth rate better job opportunities as a no.
3 priority in the survey. MY World8 is a global survey for citizens
led by the United Nations and partners. It aims to capture people's
voices, priorities and views, so that global leaders can be
informed as they begin the process of defining the new development
agenda for the world.Through creative online and offline methods,
MY World asks individuals which six of sixteen possible issues they
think would make the most difference to their lives. The sixteen
issues have been built up from the priorities expressed by poor
people in existing research and polling exercises and they cover
the existing Millennium Development Goals, plus issues of
sustainability, security, governance and transparency. 5. PURPOSE
OF THE INTERNATIONAL YOUTH INNOVATION Conference The key purpose of
the Asia youth Innovation Summit will be to bring together existing
youth entrepreneurship Asia initiatives and infuse a renewed rigor
on youth innovation.
8http://www.myworld2015.org/?page=about-my-world
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Foreign Speakers: Prof Dr. Dr. H.C. (BUST) Pintsch, President of
Royal University Camroon, Dr. Hans-Dieter Handrack Institute for
Planning and Consulting, Germany Prof Dr Vijay Kapur Indira Gandhi
National Open University, Delhi India Christian Mihr (Reporters
Without Borders) Ingrid Muller (Taggespiegel Germany) Beer, Henrik
(Sweden): Former Secretary-General of the league of Red Cross
Societies; Secretary-General of the Swedish Red Cross Al Saud,
Talal Bin Abdul Aziz (Saudi Arabia): President, the Arab Gulf
Development Organization (AGFUND); Former Minister of
Communication, Finance and National Economy Mc Namara, Robert S.
(USA): Former President of the World Bank; Former Secretary of
Defence Ravi Karakara (Advisor to UN Habitat USA) Focal person of
UN millennium Development Campaign Ana Maria ,Co-Chair of Youth
Assembly at UN ,USA Beatrice Cord ,Advisor toYouth Affairs Minister
of Romania. Dullas Alahapperuma , Minister Youth Affairs &
skills development Sri Lanka. Dr. Yunus (Nobel laureate ), Grameen
Bank Bangladesh .
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THE PAPERS READ IN THE CONFERENCE WILL BE EVALUATED BY A
COMMITTEE AND
PUBLISHED FOR INTERNATIONAL CIRCULATION.
CONTACT:
Rizwan Anwar Maha Jamil (Chair, Organizing Committee) (Vice
Chairperson YRC)
+92-321-9406596 +92-336-1437589
[email protected] [email protected]
58-Commercial Area, Cavalry Ground, Lahore/Pakistan
Tel:042-36673110 website: yrcinternational.com Email:
[email protected]
