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New report on Youth Entrepreneurship in Asia and the Pacificfindsgaps in youth entrepreneurship ecosystem.
The report highlights social, economic, and political challenges faced by young people, and identifies gaps and opportunities in the youth entrepreneurship ecosystem as a platformto implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Bangkok, July 11, 2019– As we near World Youth Skills Day to be celebrated on July 15th, Youth Entrepreneurship in Asia and the Pacific 2019, a joint report by the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) and Youth Co:Lab was launched today.
Focusing on young entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 34, the report provides a snapshot of current youth entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial ecosystems in 10 economies in the Asia-Pacific region. Particular attention is paid in the report to entrepreneurial ventures aimed at social and environmental goals. “Findings suggest that Southeast Asia is the region with the fewest social entrepreneurs at just 3.8% of the working-age population. Young entrepreneurs face significant barriers in creating start-ups, as they lack mentors in business and management skills, as well as financial constraints, funding, and access to markets. In addition, young social entrepreneurs are less likely than commercial enterprises to sustain their businesses to the established phase. Creating more opportunities for youth to enter the labour market as entrepreneurs will result in future job creation, as 97% of all jobs are created by small and medium-sized enterprises, thereof70% are sole entrepreneurs or micro businesses,” highlighted Ulrike Guelich, Assistant Professor at Bangkok University and co-author of the report.
The launch held today in Bangkok celebrates the upcoming World Youth Skills Day designated by the United Nations to raise awareness about the importance of investing in youth skills development in order to enhance their ability to make informed choices and empower them to adapt to changing labour markets.
The event also aimed to contextualize the findings of the report to Thailand’s unique perspective, through a meaningful presentation and dialogue among Thai experts and youth from different backgrounds. The speakers included representatives from UNDP, ChangeFusion, the National Innovation Agency, the National Children and Youth Council, and the youth-led social enterprise Hostbeehive. Touching upon the topics of marginalization, innovation, youth policy, and social impact investment, the goal of the discussion was to explore solutions that can support young entrepreneurs to start and grow a business in Thailand.
“Youth are changemakers in society when they engage with challenges head-on through innovation, using their skills and energy to identify practical solutionssaid Renaud Meyer, UNDP Thailand’s Resident Representative. “To support them, we must create an environment in which every one of them feels empowered and protected to strive to their fullest potential, and encourage youth as equal partner and agent of change.”
“Despite limited resources and support available for social entrepreneurs as suggested by the Social Impact Investment and Innovative Finance Landscape study released in 2018, we have seen numerous cases of young entrepreneurs in our social enterprise networks using their creativity and agility to come up with trailblazing social innovations. Nevertheless, more social investors and supporters as well as innovative investment tools would be needed to channel more resources to help the entrepreneurs thrive and create more impacts,” mentioned Haidy Leung, Business Development Managner at ChangeFusion.
During the panel discussion on youth economic empowerment and entrepreneurship development for SDGs in Thailand, Natdanai Trakansupakorn, founder of social enterprise ‘Hostbeehive’ and president of the Pgakenyaw Association for Sustainable Development (PASD) explained how “skills and knowledge about social entrepreneurship are a great tool to sustainably improve the livelihood of the indigenous people while still preserving our cultural identity. It could help the community to be able to generate new solutions, self-sustaining, self-improving, and scale out their practice to other communities. Consequently, new generations will be able to return home to work and, ultimately, pass on the culture, traditional knowledge and local wisdom to the generation to come,”
The GEM report is produced with support from Youth Co:Lab, a regional initiative co-led by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Citi Foundation that aims to establish a common agenda for countries in the Asia-Pacific region to empower and invest in youth, so that they can accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship.
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development recognizes the important role of youth in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and calls for action against the challenges faced by young people that limits their economic, social and political inclusion. While millions of young people are not in education, training or employment, many young people are also left out of the decision-making process, further contributing to their marginalization. With the rise of globalization and technology disruption, paired with transforming societal challenges, builds the basis for encouraging the development of entrepreneurial skills among youth. This is because entrepreneurship can generate employment, helps solve societal issues as well as prepares individuals for challenges ahead.
The report is available at http://pacific.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/librarypage/democratic-governance/youth-entrepreneurship-in-Asia-Pacific-2019.html
About UNDP Thailand
UNDP Thailand works as a part of UN Country Team to support the Royal thai Govrnment and the people of Thailand to achieve the national development priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals.
About Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM)
The Global Entrepreneurship Monitor (GEM) is a collaborative effort of research teams in more than 100 economies across the globe to study entrepreneurial phenomena worldwide. GEM partners with various international organizations to help leverage its publicly available knowledge, in order to equip policy makers with information that helps them to stimulate entrepreneurship for a better world.
About Youth Co: Lab
Co-created in 2017 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Citi Foundation, Youth Co:Lab aims to establish a common agenda for Asia-Pacific countries to empower youth and accelerate the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through youth leadership, social innovation and entrepreneurship. By developing 21st century skills, catalyzing and sustaining youth-led start-ups and social enterprises across the region, Youth Co:Lab positions young people front and center in order to solve the region’s most pressing challenges. In addition to supporting youth entrepreneurship, Youth Co:Lab also works closely with multiple stakeholders across the region, including governments, civil society and the private sector, to strengthen the entrepreneurship ecosystem in order to better enable young people to take the lead on new solutions that will help meet the SDGs.
For more information please contact:
Tanyalak Thongyoojaroen, Communications and Outreach Officer
Email: tanyalak.thongyoojaroen@undp.org
Mobile: +66 84 3571673
Nattha Angkasit, Project Coordinator and Communication Support
Email: nattha.angkasit@undp.org
Mobile: +66 97 137 2397
