Three young ladies from the University of Philippines-Diliman bagged the “Best Presentation” award at the recently concluded HSBC Young Entrepreneur Awards Regional Finals held June 25 at the bank's Asian headquarters in Central, Hong Kong. The prize was one of only two awards at the finals.
“Mabuhay Smiles,” a business plan promoting dental tourism in the Philippines was created and presented by Joyce Anne Cruz, Cristine Limbo, and Reynaline Tugade. The trio had earlier won the Gold Prize in the Philippines leg of the HSBC awards, entitling them to compete with other best entries of Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.
First-time participant Bangladesh won the top prize, “The Best of the Best” Award, for their proposed industrial waste management company. Zeeshan Rahman, Joydeep Choudhury, and Baizeed Nur, from Dhaka University, seek to establish relationships with large industrial waste producers to help them properly manage their waste products.
Comprising the board of judges were Ms. Margaret Leung, Group General Manager and Global Co-Head for Commercial Banking, HSBC; Mr. Ronald Arculli, Chairman of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Mr. Henry Fan, Esq., Executive Director at CITIC Pacific, Mr. Christopher Pratt, Chairman of Swire Pacific, and Mr. Alan Zeman, the “Father of Lan Kwai Fong,” and the appointed chairman of Ocean Park, Hong Kong.
The Silver and Bronze winners from each country were also flown in to lend moral support to the competing gold teams, as well as participate in a week of insightful and educational lectures and tours.
The Philippines Silver team winners were Kenn C. Reyes, JC Lazaro, and Ton Mannag with their proposal for calcium supplements from tuna bones abundant in General Santos City. The Bronze team winners were Ann Rachelle Cruz, Ma. Cristina Gonzales, and Rocyl Bagsic with their proposal for a bio-gas generation project using pineapple wastes in Tagaytay and Alfonso, Cavite.
Professor Bee-Leng Chua headlined the list of prominent lecturers. Prof. Chua is with the Department of Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, a project coordinator with the Global Entrepreneurship monitor, and an active member of CUHK's Center for Entrepreneurship.
Mr. K.O. Chia, President of the Hong Kong Venture Capital and Private Equity Association, provided the students with insights on running successful businesses, from his years as a venture capitalist with Walden International, Apple Computer, and HP-Agilent.
A tour through Hong Kong's Science and Technology Park was next on the agenda. HKSTP, whose technology driven infrastructure, support facilities, and clustered laboratory services are designed encourage the development of technology startups and enhance the competitiveness of Hong Kong's industries, is located right next to CUHK.
Frederic Yung, Senior Manager of the Business Development and Incubation Support Division, led the lecturers, explaining the functions of HKSTP in relation to Hong Kong's leading edge competitive industries.
Tham Chee Lung, Director of the Angel Connection Team which pledges to bridge the gap between Angels, Entrepreneurs, and Venture Capitalists, explained the processes behind obtaining funding for business proposals. Chee-Lung has over twenty years experience in sales, market research, human resources, and general management with both multinationals and home-grown corporations.
The next day it was off to Ocean Park for some fun with the rides, but not until after a session with Ocean Park President Tom Mehrmann, who detailed the turnaround achieved by Ocean Park following debacle of SARS in 2003.
From Ocean Park in the southside of Hong Kong, the whole group dashed across the territory to Cathay Pacific City in Chek Lap Kok for a tour of flight operations and a talk by Tony Tyler, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Officer Designate. Mr. Tyler revealed that Cathay Pacific's cargo and passenger turnover has doubled since the handover, and predicts that Hong Kong will continue to be a mor international gateway into China and Asia.
Shenzhen was the final item on the agenda with visits to Kingdee Software International, a leading provider of enterprise management software and e-business applications, and ZTE Corporation, a global provider of fixed line, mobile telecommunications, and data network solutions. ZTE is the controversial lead entity for the Philippines' national broadband network.
Keeping everything organized were the indefatigable volunteers from CUHK, Theresa and Kelvin, who successfully led, organized, motivated, and cajoled the large group of students of eight nationalities and six countries all around Hong Kong and neighboring Shenzhen, making sure everyone made their meetings, had breakfast, and had a generally fun and exciting learning experience during the HSBC awards.
