Neil Grimaldo represents ISSI and the Philippines at the APO workshop in Singapore
Two Filipinos attended as the Philippine delegates to the Workshop on the Business Model Canvas for Startups and Entrepreneurs spearheaded by the Asian Productivity Organization and in collaboration with the Singapore Productivity Centre held on June 25 – 28, 2024 in Singapore.
Mr. Neil DC. Grimaldo, University Extension Specialist from the Training and Entrepreneurship Education Division of the University of the Philippines Institute for Small-Scale Industries, and Ms. Justina H. Nadiahan, owner of Country’Vest were the chosen Filipinos representatives.
The workshop gathered 17 participants from 15 different Asian countries including Bangladesh (1), Cambodia (1), Fiji (1), India (2), Lao PDR (1), Malaysia (1), Mongolia (1), Pakistan (1), Philippines (2), Republic of China (1), Sri Lanka (1), Thailand (1), and Vietnam (1).
The event aimed to enhance APO members’ support for entrepreneurs by providing practical tools to help them realize and commercialize innovative ideas focusing on the use of the Business Model Canvas. It is a strategic management and entrepreneurial tool that helps to visualize key elements of business ideas, validate and refine assumptions, and identify potential risks or gaps in the ideation process.
The workshop sessions include 1) Fostering Entrepreneurship: An Ecosystem Approach; 2) Opportunities and Challenges for Entrepreneurs in the Digital Economy: An Asian Perspective; 3) Business Model Canvas; 4) Supporting Entrepreneurship and Startups: Experiences from Thailand and Republic of Korea; 5) Startups and Entrepreneurship in Singapore: Opportunities and Challenges; and 6) Entrepreneurship Development in APO Members.
Furthermore, the workshop included site visits to Temasek Launchpad and Singapore Action Community for Entrepreneurship for the participants to observe the support services they provide and reflect on what they can utilize for the entrepreneurs, and how can they influence and assist entrepreneurship development in their countries.
The last day of the workshop concluded with the participants working in groups to experience the process of developing strategies and business models, applying the learnings from the previous sessions. The participants played the role of an entrepreneur and pitched their ideas using the results of the business model canvas.