Youth can change South Asia

From left, Korvi Rakshand, founder of JAAGO Foundation, Bangladesh; Suhas Gopinath, chairman and CEO of Globals Inc India; Abdullah Abu Sayeed, founder of Bishwa Sahitya Kendra, Bangladesh; Anand Bagaria, managing director of Probiotech Industries Ltd, Nepal; and Ejaj Ahmad, founder and president of Bangladesh Youth Leader Centre, take part in a session on "Young entrepreneurs: rising South Asia: promises and dreams" at LEAD2012 conference at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka yesterday.Photo: STAR

The youth can play a vital role in transforming South Asia with their visionary entrepreneurship, said some successful entrepreneurs of the region yesterday.
The young people will have to act as a medium to increase social and economic bondage among the people of the region, which is now gaining economic growth at a faster rate, the entrepreneurs added.
They said the young entrepreneurs of South Asia have already proved their worth as many of the companies in the region are run by them.
They were speaking at a session on “young entrepreneurs: rising South Asia: promises and dreams” at a conference -- LEAD 2012 -- at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka.
The convention with a focus on youths in eight Saarc (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) states takes place at a time when South Asia, home to about 1.5 billion people, emerges as a global economic power thanks to steady economic growth over the past few years.
But the region is also home to a majority of the poor people in the world.
Vikramjit Singh Sahney, senior vice president of Saarc Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the young people can change the region by increasing economic and social bondage among people.
The young entrepreneurs can also join the Saarc Youth Entrepreneur Forum, Sahney said while chairing the session.
Prof Abdullah Abu Sayeed, president of Bishwa Sahitya Kendra, an institution that works to promote reading habits, called upon the young people to show love and affection to people to be good leaders.
“But, you will have to have a dream and this is the most important thing in your life,” Sayeed said.
He said dreams arise from love and sadness.
“If you want to be a bad person, you will have to go to bad people. But if you want to be a good person, you will have to look for beauty,” Sayeed said.
Suhas Gopinath, chief executive and chairman of Globals Inc of India, said he struggled a lot to achieve success after his graduation.
“Not only academic qualification, but skill is also necessary to be a successful entrepreneur,” he said.
Anand Bagaria, managing director of Probiotech Industries Ltd in Nepal, said: “I have feared many times before achieving the success. Still I fear.”
He said he was trying to export handicrafts to the US, but the project was not successful. Later he set up a ballpoint pen factory, but this also did not take off.
“But, I gained some experiences through the projects,” he said.
In 1999, he met a man who was selling animal feeder and he tried to do the same business.
He later started supplying poultry feeds and this project started growing, he added.
Now he supplies 7,000 tonnes of feeds a month and his company is worth $5 million. “I have a dream that I will turn my company into a $10 million one by 2015,” he said.
Korvi Rakshand, founder of JAAGO Foundation in Bangladesh, also spoke at the session moderated by Ejaj Ahmad, founder and president of Bangladesh Youth Leader Centre.
The Saarc Chamber and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry jointly organised the two-day event with the theme -- Youth of rising South Asia: promises and dreams.