Panel Entrepreneurship

Theme: The landscape of doing business in Vietnam.

Objectives:

- Have the insights into Vietnam market

- Get experiences in starting up in Vietnam such as how to deal with Vietnamese regulations, how to raise funds, and so on

- Understand supports and challenges young entrepreneurs may have when starting up an enterprise, especially in Vietnam market

- Learn how to handle those challenges and cultivate “never give up”, “can do spirit”

Language used: Vietnamese

Panel Flow:

Speakers’ Presentation:

- Speakers share their entrepreneurial experiences, deliver valuable messages to participants

Panel Discussion:

- Moderator brings out questions targeting our initial objectives

- Open to audience

- Sample questions:

What are the basic requirements to start up a business in Vietnam?
How does Vietnamese government support entrepreneurs?
What are biggest challenges of doing business in Vietnam?
What are the main differences of business landscape between Vietnam and foreign countries?

Speakers:

	Mr. Albert Antoine Associate Director, Antony Consulting Pte. Ltd Mr. Antoine is an international business development and management consultant who currently serves as Associate Director of Antony Consulting, overseeing its Vietnam operation. He also provides strategy and management consulting for many leading US and European MNCs entering Asia Pacific markets. He has had more than 20 years of experience in the ICT (Information - Communications - Technology) industry. He started his career as Technology Advisor on a World Bank project in Madagascar. After moving to Singapore in 1988, he founded his own consulting firm, providing consulting services in the area of Artificial Intelligence, and subsequently, joined ILOG, a global IT solution & consulting company. He previously served on the board of many portfolio companies advising them on management and marketing strategies as part of VinaCapital, a private equity investment and venture capital firm in Vietnam. Mr. Antoine speaks fluent Vietnamese, French, and English. He holds an M.Sc. in Management of Technology from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as well as an M.Sc. in Computer Science from the International Institute of Robotic and Artificial Intelligence of Marseille, France.
	Mr. Le Hong Minh Founder, Chairman & CEO, VNG Corporation (formerly VinaGame) Minh is the Chairman & CEO of VNG Corporation, the leading Internet & online game company in Vietnam. Established in 2005, VNG has grown from a 5-person start-up to the #1 domestic portal in Vietnam (Zing.vn) offering entertainment news, music, social network, and online games to 15 million Vietnamese Internet users. VNG's mission is to "Make the Internet change Vietnamese lives" and the company goal is to serve 41 million customers by the year 2014. Prior to co-founding VNG at the age of 27, Minh worked as private equity Managing Director for VinaCapital, one of the top investment house in Vietnam. Minh received his Bachelor of Business Degree from Monash University, Australia. He represents a generation of Vietnamese entrepreneurs who came back from overseas study to start building his career.
	Mr. Pham Anh Khoa Co-Founder & Managing Director, Yola Institute Co-Founder & Board Director, VietAbroader Khoa Pham is the Managing Director of Yola Institute, the premier educational services provider in Vietnam. Yola Institute offers a variety of courses in TOEFL, SAT, SSAT and other academic subjects through small classes and personalized premium one-on-one tutoring. Khoa also co-founded and currently serves on the board of VietAbroader, the leading network of overseas Vietnamese students in the U.S. Previously, Khoa held professional positions at VinaCapital, Orvis and BBC World Service. Khoa is a graduate of Bates College, with a double degree in economics and international relations. He was also awarded the Watson Fellowship, a program created in 1960s in honor of Thomas J. Watson, the founder of IBM, to explore the Vietnamese youth in several countries.
	Mr. Le Nguyen Hong Phuong CEO & Chairman, BIT Corporation Mr. Le is an active, out-going person with strong entrepreneurial spirit. His 2015 objective for BIT is to become one of the most prestigious IT suppliers in Vietnam, whose quality service and customer trusts are the core business values. Hopefully, BIT will be listed in Top 100 Best IT and Digital companies in the world by 2030. For 5 years, he has directed BIT to grow with intensive focus of cultivating a rich business culture which strives to nurture, develop human talents and make a real impact to society. He shared that the business environment in Vietnam is the biggest obstacle to the development of young entrepreneurs who have strong passion in technology because it does not support the Vietnamese youth’s innovation and international competition spirit. So he wants to achieve the core business values such as justice, solidarity, etc in order to create a platform for young Vietnamese generations to build up pride for our nation. He has an idea to expand his business to Singapore market.