ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival 2020

The 5th ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival was held in Hanoi on November 30, 2020 by the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association, the rotating chairman of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council 2020. This is the first time the carnival was held in-person in Vietnam and virtually with the young entrepreneurs’ associations of ASEAN countries. The event attracted nearly 300 young entrepreneurs from Vietnam and ASEAN countries.

The ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council (AYEC) was founded in November 2015 at the 27th ASEAN Summit in Malaysia, with the aim of promoting the common voice of the bloc’s young entrepreneurs in boosting regional solidarity, and socioeconomic and cultural cooperation in the ASEAN Community.

The need for the establishment of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council received the support of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ABAC) and the ASEAN Secretariat with the desire to encourage cooperation development among ASEAN young entrepreneurs and enhance the voice of the young entrepreneur community to be on par with other representatives of the private sector in ASEAN. In that spirit, the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival was first held in Malaysia in July 2016 with the aim of encouraging the development of the ASEAN young entrepreneurs movements and creating opportunities for ASEAN young entrepreneurs to contact and cooperate each other. The annual program is held rotationally among member associations, with the first four carnivals held in Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand.

In 2020, as the Chair of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council, the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association decided to open the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival in in-person form in Vietnam and online form with the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Associations. This year's ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival has a very special meaning, demonstrating the creativity of the ASEAN young entrepreneurs for the goal of realizing the vision of a “Cohesive and Responsive ASEAN” to overcome difficulties and maintain growth. The main content of the 5th ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival included two parts: Ecosystem and Alliance in ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs and Journey to a Digital Future, aiming to encourage ASEAN young entrepreneurs to introduce their practical initiatives together to create an alliance, and to develop in a digital world with many opportunities and challenges inside it.

Mr. Dang Hong Anh, Chairman of Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association (VYEA) and Chairman of ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council 2020, said during the chairmanship tenure of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council 2020, VYEA launched many activities such as mobilizing VND10 billion to buy 10,000 COVID-19 quick test kits; donating more than VND5 billion for flood victims in central Vietnam; donating VND1 billion to Agent Orange dioxin victims; organizing the free webminar: Consistency - Factor that needs to help business leaders overcome the crisis; organizing two online conferences for ASEAN young entrepreneurs; hosting an online seminar on “How to make a business flourish in the new normal”; presenting two rice ATMs to the Myanmar Rice Association and successfully hosting the ASEN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival 2020.

Also at the 5th ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival, the rotational chairmanship of ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council 2021 was handed over to the Brunei Young Entrepreneurs Association and launched the official website of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council, which a product of the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association during its chairmanship term.

By Lien-Huyen, Vietnam Business Forum