Thai team wins out in battle of young Mekong business minds
Thai team wins out in battle of young Mekong business minds
A competition seeking enthusiastic young businesspeople in the Mekong region was held in Vientiane on Saturday, bringing together more than 50 participants from six countries.
The annual Mekong Business Challenge is held in line with the objectives of the participating South-East Asian countries, especially with the impending arrival of the Asean Economic Community in 2015.
The competition is aimed at promoting entrepreneurship and innovative business ideas.
Competitors came from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and China's Yunnan province.
A team of three young women from Thailand won the competition and were awarded gold medals.
Members of the first runner-up team from Vietnam were awarded silver medals while those from the third-placing team, also from Vietnam, received bronze medals.
The winners will also be given a chance to attend the International Business Model Competition in America with their travel and accommodation costs covered.
The runner-up team will have the opportunity to make a working visit to the Google regional office in Singapore and the team that came third were given laptops and smartphones.
Mr Khavi Homsombath, winner of last year's competition in Myanmar, told Vientiane Times the event was a great opportunity for young people to demonstrate their business talent.
“The competition is important for us because it enables young people in the Mekong countries to share their business ideas, thoughts and concepts. That is the reason why it is associated with the Asean Economic Community,” he said.
He said many young Lao businesspeople had good business skills that were comparable to those of people in other Mekong countries but they needed to improve their English language and presentation skills.
At the competition, the participants played the judges three-minute video clips and then gave 10-minute oral presentations, followed by a further 10 minutes for questions.
Laos entered two teams in the competition this year.
But neither the team from the National University of Laos nor the one from Lao-American College were able to win any prizes.
Next year's competition will be organised later and the host country has not yet been announced.
Organisers thanked the judges, high-profile guests and sponsors for making this year's event possible, including McKinsey & Company, Standard Chartered Bank and the Asia Group, along with Asian representatives of Google, Fusion Partners, Victoria Park Foundation and Kris Energy.
vientiane times
