Bright minds, big city
Some people have the drive to succeed pumping vigorously through their veins. It’s always warming to witness eager ambition, especially in young adults, whose hopes and goals are noticeable in their stride. It can serve the same purpose as an inspiring movie.
HSBC is a leader in motivating today’s bright youth. Seven years ago, they started holding the HSBC Young Entrepreneur Regional Awards, a business plan-writing contest for students in the Asia-Pacific. The esteemed contest is a wonderful way for students to acquire practical business knowledge and planning and presentation skills. Participating countries hold competitions within their respective nations and the gold-medal winners head to Hong Kong to duke it out with other winning teams.
This year, six energetic teams from the Philippines, Bangladesh, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Vietnam and Thailand converged at the ultra-modern HSBC headquarters in Central, Hong Kong, to challenge each other’s business plans and presentations. It was exciting to see fresh, young talent take their passions so seriously and perform in an open forum with the determination to bring home the title. Each team had 12 minutes to present their defense and faced five minutes of grueling questioning by the judges. Onstage, the lively production showcased the talents of these young, intelligent individuals.
The judging criteria included innovation and creative thinking, commercial viability and potential, communication skills and competitive advantage. Headed by Margaret Leung, HSBC general manager and global co-head of commercial banking, the panel of judges was comprised of dynamic business leaders in Hong Kong such as Ronald Arculli, chairman of Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited; Henry Fan, managing director of CITC Pacific Limited; Christopher Pratt, chairman at John Swire and Sons Limited; and Allan Zeman, chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Holdings Limited.
Each country presented their rehearsed case and faced tough questioning. It was difficult to decipher whom the judges would select as a winner since all the teams put on a fine show. Fortunately, our homegrown Philippine team spoke the best English, were the best looking and smiled throughout their presentation. They bagged the Best Presentation award and each of the three members won a PDA phone and trophy. Our team was a female trio hailing from UP Diliman — Cristina Limbo, Reynaline Tugade and Joyce Anne Cruz — all majors in business administration with concentrations in strategic management. They won the gold in the countrywide competition held in Manila back in March, along with a grand prize of P300,000. Their business proposal was “Mabuhay Health Getaways,” a corporation that arranges for dental travel tourism, mainly for balikbayans from the US and the UK. Since dental work can be quite costly abroad, they arrange dental services and recreational visits for people vacationing in the Philippines. In a nutshell, they help match potential clients with dentists in the Philippines according to their needs and help them plan a local getaway after the dental procedure by suggesting locations and organizing hotel stays. They’ve already secured a tie-up with the Philippine Dental Association and are its official marketing arm, endorsed by the Department of Tourism.
When they announced that the Philippines had won this second-place award, the Filipino press, guests and HSBC representatives screamed with sheer delight. Overjoyed was Joy Guevara, the team’s professor of consumer behavior and mentor at UP. Professor Guevara coached the girls on really getting to know their target market and encouraged them from the get-go. The girls created this business plan solely for the competition and intend on turning it into a feasible business. Chief judge Margaret Leung said she thought it was a viable business and particularly liked that they focused on dental tourism over medical tourism, which other countries have already been doing. When Leung was asked what the Philippine team could have done differently to win, she said not much, as they had a great presentation; it was just a very competitive year since all the countries had strong arguments.
Although just the gold teams presented their cases, the winning silver and bronze teams from each country were invited to observe the competition and take part in the other activities. The silver winners from the Philippines were Kenn Reyes, Melton Mannag and Juan Carlos Lazaro from Far Eastern University, whose business plan was to make calcium supplements from the bones of yellowfin tuna found in our waters. From the same university came the bronze team made up of Rocyl Bagsic, Ann Rachelle Cruz and Maria Cristina Gonzales, who saw the need to address pollution concerns once they noticed a pineapple vendor dumping pineapple peels in front of their school. Their plan was to recycle dried pineapple peelings into an alternative cooking source.
Bangladesh nabbed the Best of the Best award and went home with a business development fund of HK$100,000 (P572,864) for their industrial waste management business. Their plan aims to find a solution for environmental pollution in their country by having large companies that have factories commission them to manage their production waste. Environmental concerns now play a vital role in business and it’s wonderful to see developing countries tackle this matter. According to the judges, the business was viable as Bangladesh really sees the need to address waste management and their company hit the niche market. The company would be a service provider, serving as the source production companies would turn to. The all-male Bangladesh team was passionate and able to answer the judges’ questions clearly.
All the cases presented were diverse and interesting. The Hong Kong team’s business plan was a revolutionary advertising platform that would motivate consumers to receive and share advertisements through mobile phones via Bluetooth technology. The Malaysian team had the idea of converting waste extracted from palm oil production into fish feed that costs less than alternatives and is non-toxic. Finding a clean public toilet in Vietnam is hard to come by, so the Vietnamese team’s plan was to supply automatically operated public lavatories in parks, while the Thai team thought of creating a machine that offers add-on special effects and animation to make professional-looking DVDs that can be shared with friends online.
The Asia Pacific Institute of Business at the Chinese University of Hong Kong hosted the students’ weeklong visit, giving the gold, silver and bronze medalists the opportunity to learn about the latest developments in entrepreneurship and technology through various activities. A treasure hunt provided the backdrop for a team-building session, while seminars and workshops coached by professors provided insight into building a good business plan, communicating it well and the importance of being a team player.
Visits to the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Ocean Park, Cathay Pacific Airlines, Calbee Four Seas (snack foods) in Hong Kong were eye-opening. An overnight stay in Shenzhen with visits to Kingdee International Software and ZTE Corporation (a telecom equipment supplier) were all part of the corporate visit itinerary, lending the students insight into how successful businesses run and thrive. The unique program, though challenging, provides students — tomorrow’s business leaders — with a fully comprehensive guide to running a successful company, which paves the way for a better economy.
It was so inspiring to see these fresh college graduates with clever, young minds cultivate their interest in entrepreneurship. As a spectator and not even a contestant, it was rewarding and stimulating to just witness the event.
