This year GEW Philippines coincided with the opening of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting hosted by the Philippines.
As the world’s 12th most populous country – and with people under the age of 25 making up 54 percent of its population – the Philippines is among 23 countries classified by Moody’s Investors Service under the “not-aging category” from 2015 until 2030. That means there is a low share of an older population compared to the total number of people.
According to the Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI), the Philippines improved its ranking among Asia-Pacific countries this year, moving to 13th place out of 21 countries, and had notable improvements in its ratings on risk capital and opportunity startup.
“There is higher motivation among young people to start up a business and the flow of funding from business angels, incubators and venture capital has also improved,” said Henry Ong, director of Young Entrepreneur Society (YES), the official host organization of GEW Philippines.
However, technology absorption and internalization pillars remain low.
The Young Entrepreneur Society has worked with more than 100 partners to organize over 300 events this November, with the aim of expanding the startup community as well as raising the standard of competitiveness locally and globally among startups. Vice President Jejomar Binay, former Secretary Mar Roxas, Senators Grace Poe, Chiz Escudero and Bam Aquino issued statements of support for the week.
One of the week’s highlights was the third edition of the Failing Forward conference, the signature activity of GEW Philippines. The conference took place at the Meralco Multi Purpose Hall in Pasig City with the attendance of approximately 700 delegates. The conference aims to answer vital questions in business such as “Why do startups fail,” “How to stay positive despite failures,” “How to apply the lessons learned” and “How to manage risks by minimizing mistakes in the future.”
This December, YES will be hosting the national finals of the 1776 Challenge Cup, a GEN Global Pick, and the winner of which will represent the Philippines in regional finals in Seoul, Korea.
GEW Philippines and supporters include Earl Martin Valencia from Ideaspace, Joe Maristela of Katalyst.ph, Juan Paolo dela Vega and Jenn Lim of YES National, Matt Jaeggi and Ces Rondario of Impact Hub Manila, and all the members and officers of YES chapters.
Read more about the GEW Philippines campaign, and GEW host Henry Ong.