The International Forum, Xiamen - Success: Vision & Action was successfully held at Conference Hall, Keli Building, Xiamen University (XMU) on 20 March 2009. The forum, a co-joint project between Cambridge University Education Without Borders and Xiamen University, was started off by an impressive opening speech by Prof. Fangzhao Gu, Vice President of XMU, followed by the generous welcome remarks of Prof. Chongshi Zhu, President of XMU.
The international panel of world-class speakers, Prof. Alan Barrell, Prof. Teng-Kee Tan, Prof. Dingkun Ge, Dr. Seena Rejal and Mr. Rob Valli from four different countries in the world delivered a series of inspiring speeches to over 300 students selected from XMU and universities in the region.
Prof. Alan Barrell, an Entrepreneur in Residence at the University of Cambridge Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (CfEL), spoke on entrepreneurship and enterprise in tomorrow’s increasingly globalised world. He mentioned that education, wealth creation and new knowledge were currently the key focuses of Economic Planning in Asia. Using China as a case study, he highlighted the several sources of competition which fast-growing economies faced at present.
Quoting Josef Alois Schumpeter, an Austrian Economist (1883 – 1950), “Entrepreneurs blow gales of creative destruction”, Prof. Barrell explained the role of entrepreneurs in aiding the transformation of economies. He elaborated on the concept of “Innovation Campus”, which saw the collaboration among three different fields – Education, Research and Development and Practical Application. He ended his inspiring speech with well wishes for student members of the audience, urging them to be in constant pursuit of excellence.
Prof. Teng-kee Tan, founding director of Nanyang Technological University’s Technopreneurship Centre, delivered a highly engaging speech, titled “I have a dream ... to change the way.” He started off his speech by asking the students to think about their mission and vision in life. He highlighted that entrepreneurship and innovation must be accompanied with a purpose in mind, and the eventual goal of the eradication of poverty. He discussed how a culture could shape the way people innovate and educated the student audience on the six dimensions of cultural differences and how they could harnessed on them to construct novel business ideas.
Next, Prof. Dingkun Ge, a Professor in Strategy and Entrepreneurship at CEIBS, spoke on the need of recognising and pursuing opportunity.
“A start-up opportunity is a business opportunity that you can create and approximate substantial value by offering new products or services. An idea is a non-qualified opportunity, with its potential for value creation, ” stated Prof. Ge. He explained the concept of ‘customer value’ and its importance in incubating a start-up idea into a successful business.
The fourth speaker of the panel, Dr. Seena Rejal, is a highly successful analyst and entrepreneur based in London. At a young age of 30, he already has two London-based start-up companies to his name. He gave his opinions on, “Why entrepreneurship?” and the difference between invention and innovation. He shared his hard-learnt lessons, which he picked up as an entrepreneur, emphasising on the importance of “thinking globally; moving fast and doing some social good in everything one does.”
Mr. Rob Valli, who had two decades worth of successful investment banking, technology venturing, and entrepreneurial leadership experiences, spoke on investment readiness for young start-ups. His speech, titled “Show me the money,” included a brief introduction to the “Cambridge Phenomenon,” the rise of several start-ups in Cambridge. One of the highlights of Mr. Valli’s speech was a mass questionnaire with a set of questions posed to the student audience, allowing them to access their suitability to be entrepreneurs. In addition, he explained the various sources of funding and the prevalence of the formation of partnerships between different companies and industries in the current world.
“Begin with an end in mind,” said Mr. Valli, concluding his speech.
The highlights of the Forum were indisputably the panel discussion sessions, which saw an overwhelming number of students posing questions to the speakers who had successfully stimulated the students’ ways of thinking.
On the day following the Forum, two seminars – “Youth Business Seminars” and “Specialised Seminars for Students in XMU School of Management”, held in collaboration with XMU student societies, were conducted successfully. Both seminars proved to be very well received by students who were given an opportunity to interact with our speakers and gain further insights into the students’ areas of expertise. On the third day of the programme, some of our speakers attended discussion sessions with local student groups, namely, AIESEC-XMU and XMU-SIFE. During these discussion sessions, our speakers effectively engaged with the students and inspired the students to bring their respective student societies and entrepreneurial projects to greater heights. The Forum was also reported on the most frequently read newspaper in Xiamen, Xiamen Daily. You may download the electronic version of the news report from http://www.cuewb.com/files/public/IFX/IFX_Xiamen_Daily_P4_090321.pdf.
International Forum, Xiamen brought together inquisitive and motivated individuals from around the globe, empowering even more young individuals to turn their vision into real action. CUEWB is committed to bringing more of such international events to aspiring youths around the world.
