Neal Chandaria CEO of Comcraft Asia Pacific Ltd. addresses a forum, “Entrepreneurship: Key to Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction,” at the 2013 Global Peace Convention.
Entrepreneurship is defined as a process of identifying and starting a business venture, sourcing and organizing the required resources, and assuming both the risks and rewards associated with the venture.
According to panelists at the 2013 Global Peace Convention forum on December 7, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, entrepreneurship is also a bottom-up approach to economic development and a core principle of effective, innovative leadership. “We cannot wait for the government. We need to start moving,” said Comcraft Asia Pacific Ltd. CEO Mr. Neal Chandaria. “Anybody can be an entrepreneur.”
Speakers at the forum, “Entrepreneurship: Key to Sustainable Development and Poverty Reduction,” explained that entrepreneurs find effective solutions to political and social obstacles, generate revenue, and are largely free from political biases and bureaucratic inefficiencies. Panelist Mr. Huang Soon Fook, Director of Empowering Youth Entrepreneurs Unit at Binary University in Kuala Lumpur, said that “though God gives everyone talents, not everyone has the passion to be a successful entrepreneur.”
“Passion will make one believe in things that he does and gives it all out to achieve the goal,” agreed Mr. Chandaria, adding that “the successful entrepreneur also needs persistence: “Things cannot happen in one night. Success can take years.”
Entrepreneurs are also innovators—seeing things differently, finding and developing unique resources, creating something new, and ultimately improving life in the community. But entrepreneurship is not just about the profit taking or money making. Poverty is one of the biggest challenges in many developing countries, panelists said. Both government and private sector play an essential role in addressing poverty, with private sector business ventures more able to take action and make something happen quickly.
Despite political or social constraints, entrepreneurs dare to break boundaries, overcome obstacles and do what it takes to bring success and improve life in the community. Mr. Chandaria also reminded the forum that resources are finite, and that sustainability must be at the forefront of new business ventures. Environmentally sustainable entrepreneurship will preserve the natural environment and provide opportunities for developing countries to build bottom-up economic opportunities to people living in poverty.
–Reported by Nurshamira Suraya for GPF Malaysia
