CAAYE Annual Report 2013
CAAYE Annual Report 2013
CAAYE Annual Report 2013
Brunei
Darussalam
India
Malaysia
Junior Chamber International Petaling Jaya Persatuan Usachawan Graduan Malaysia (Malaysia Graduate Entrepreneur Association)
Maldives
Pakistan
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Nepal
www.caaye.com
Entrepreneurs are a very special kind of business person with an admirable capacity to innovate, take risks, and persevere towards a vision. Entrepreneurs are the ones who develop new products and create new business models to address social and economic needs, and in doing so, change our world. Most businesses have a modest beginning in someones kitchen or backyard, but many go on to become signicant organisations driving employment, economic growth, and social development through giving back to communities. In the words of the UN Secretary General An estimated 425 million young women and men will join the labour force between 2016 and 2030. That means the world will need about half a billion jobs by then. To help meet this challenge, we should encourage, educate and empower young entrepreneurs. We need to make a shift from talking about creating jobs for youth, to talking about inventing jobs by youth. Entrepreneurship can be a part of the solution by transforming unemployed young people into major employers. The Commonwealth Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAAYE) is playing an important part in driving that shift. The advocacy and tangible action by the CAAYE member organisations, representing young entrepreneurs from eight Commonwealth Asia countries, is exciting and laudable. It is creating strong awareness with governments, nancial institutions and the business sector, of the importance of a strong ecosystem for youth enterprise. The Commonwealth Youth Programme has been proud to see this edgling organisation move to ight so quickly and effectively. The Commonwealth also commends the 2013 CAAYE Summits theme of Prot with Purpose aiming to encourage young entrepreneurs to consider their values and purpose at the same time as ensuring commercial viability. Such businesses, striving to achieve positive social and environmental impact, are the way to a sustainable and prosperous future for all. Youth entrepreneurship and youth enterprise should be a key component of the currently evolving post-2015 development framework, which will have a clear focus on job creation and equitable growth, social inclusion and equality, and quality education for young people. The Commonwealths work aligns directly with this future framework, with technical assistance to member governments on systems and mechanisms for youth enterprise / entrepreneurship programmes, and establishment of youth enterprise funds. Effective youth entrepreneurship policies should sit within the wider context of national employment policies and programmes, and a multi-sector integrated approach. They should target the specic challenges that young people face with regards to (i) an entrepreneurial culture (ii) entrepreneurship education (iii) improvement in the legal and regulatory environment (iv) access to affordable nance. The young people of the Asia region are extremely well positioned to advocate for such policies, and be drivers of economic and social change. The Commonwealth is proud to support CAAYEs efforts to promote trade, peace and growth in this most buoyant region of the sub-continent. The Commonwealth hopes to see the committed, passionate and truly powerful collective that is CAAYE sustain and grow for many years to come, and expand into other regions of the Commonwealth, making a vital contribution to economic growth, job creation, innovation and social development. Katherine Ellis Director Youth Affairs Commonwealth Secretariat