Ten young entrepreneurs will have a shot at earning from $500,000 to $1 million in start-up funding for their proposed businesses at the inaugural Youth in Business Summit, which will begin this week, Director of Youth Melissa Carmichael has announced.
Carmichael told reporters at a news conference on Friday that the summit, which is scheduled for May 23th and May 24th, is one of several activities organised by the Department of Youth as part of the 2018 Youth Week Celebrations.
National Youth Week will be observed from the 20th to the 27th of May, 2018, under the theme, “Empowering young people to foster Youth and Community development through innovation.”
The summit was explained as a forum for the exchange of information between pertinent private and public sector entities that speak directly to youth entrepreneurship.
As part of the event, 21 young entrepreneurs, who have been pre-selected, will each have eight minutes to pitch their business plans to impress a panel of judges and the ten best will be awarded from $500,000 to $1 million in start-up funding.
According to the website of the Department of Youth, over a period ending April 16th, 2018, it invited young entrepreneurs to submit their proposals so that they can have a chance to win both start-up capital and mentorship.
Carmichael said 100 proposals were accepted on a first come first served basis, though 230 were received and of that number 21 proposals were shortlisted.
It is these shortlisted participants who will on Thursday present their proposals to a panel, for possible selection to receive start-up capital.
This newspaper requested a list of the shortlisted entrepreneurs and was promised a copy but up to press time none had been received.
Meanwhile, other activities planned for National Youth Week include the National Youth Week Rally, which is scheduled for today.
It is expected that the Rally, which will be staged at the D’Urban Park, will serve as a display for Guyana’s paramilitary organisations, such as the Scouts, Majorettes and Pathfinders.
It will begin with a route march from the Public Buildings on Brickdam and end at D’Urban Park, where President David Granger is expected to deliver the feature address.
