8/3/2019 Commonwealth-Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs : CAAYE Official Launch Announcement

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yourcommonwealth.org http://www.yourcommonwealth.org/asia/commonwealth-asia-alliance-of-young-

entrepreneurs-caaye-launched/

Commonwealth-Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs(CAAYE) Launched

18.11.11

The Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre,Commonwealth Secretariat in collaboration with TheYoung Indians of the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) organized a two day Envisioning Workshop in NewDelhi on November 15-16, at the end of which theCommonwealth-Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs(CAAYE) was launched. The initiative followed themandate given by the Commonwealth Heads ofGovernment Meetings in 2009 and again in 2011 toCommonwealth Secretariat and member governments toput in place policies and mechanisms to foster youth

enterprise development as a means to mitigate theproblem of unemployment among young people in theCommonwealth.

12 representatives from youth entrepreneurship supportorganizations from Brunei Darussalam, India, Malaysia, the Maldives, Singapore and Sri Lanka participatedin the workshop and agreed on a Charter, Governance Structure and Rules of Business and committed to along term engagement of the Alliance as a catalyst of economic growth, job creation, innovation and societalchange in the Commonwealth Asia region. Pakistan and Bangladesh participated virtually in theproceedings, agreed to the commitments and signed the Charter along with representative organizationsfrom the countries mentioned above. The workshop was also attended by Raj K. Mishra and Aminul IslamKhan, Regional Director and Programme Manager respectively from the CYP Asia Centre and Raj Kumar

Bidla from the Youth Affairs Division.The mission statement endorsed by the Alliance partners was to be:

(1) a network that, through its engagement with governments, the media, the public, all relevant stakeholdersand member organizations, champions the cause of young entrepreneurs at the local, national, regional andinternational level.(2) an alliance of organizations from economies of the Commonwealth-Asia region that makes measurableprogress towards development of entrepreneurship to ensure future prosperity.

The Alliance also committed itself to(1) support young entrepreneurs across the Commonwealth-Asia region.(2) build, appreciate and encourage youth entrepreneurship culture(3) create a network between member countries for mentorship, advisory and other relevant supportservices to young entrepreneurs.(4) contribute to human capital development through education & training of young entrepreneurs(5) provide information on access to finance and other resources for young entrepreneurs(6) influence policy mechanism foryouth entrepreneurial development

We see the setting up of the Commonwealth Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs as a very positivedevelopment towards our goal of economic enfranchisement of youth. We hope, the Alliance would be arallying force in advocating with the member governments to put in place appropriate policies, programmesand structures to promote youth entrepreneurship in the region.This was how Mr Raj K Mishra and Mr. RajKumar Bidla viewed the outcome of the Workshop.

Dr Rahul Mirchandani, Chairman, Partnerships & International Relations, Young Indians described the

formation of the Alliance as a historic occasion while Mr. Shankar Vanavarayar, National Chairman, YoungIndians viewed the CAAYE as a window of opportunity for aspiring young entrepreneurs across theCommonwealth Asia region.

http://www.yourcommonwealth.org/asia/commonwealth-asia-alliance-of-young-entrepreneurs-caaye-launched/http://www.yourcommonwealth.org/asia/commonwealth-asia-alliance-of-young-entrepreneurs-caaye-launched/

8/3/2019 Commonwealth-Asia Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs : CAAYE Official Launch Announcement

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