Great opportunities are ahead for the startup community as several investors from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries and its partners are set to arrive in the Philippines for the Slingshot ASEAN Summit 2017. The summit brings together entrepreneurs and innovators into one international conference set on October 19-20 at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Manila.
Organized by the Department of Trade and Industry, Slingshot ASEAN 2017 aims to highlight the milestones of the startup community in the Philippines and across ASEAN. With the theme, “Partnering for Change, Engaging the World,” this summit will present a platform for different businesses that are still in their preliminary phase.
“We are encouraging the growth of startups in the country as part of the government’s efforts in boosting the economy and creating jobs for Filipinos in the country,” says DTI Undersecretary for Trade and Investments Promotion Nora K. Terrado.
“Startups are able to utilize and promote new technologies that drive future economic growth, and contribute to a continuous changing social environment and global economy,” she added.
The program includes a conference with a powerhouse set of speakers from all over the ASEAN region; learning hubs through seminar breakout sessions with industry experts; public and private sector dialogues; pitching competitions; and an exhibit of business innovations that can help startup businesses across ASEAN.
This is the third year that the Philippines is organizing a Slingshot Summit, with a larger audience representing 10 ASEAN member states as part of the Philippines’ hosting and ASEAN’s 50th year.
In 2015 and 2016, Slingshot Philippines took initiative to form dialogues between public-private public-private policies with its output as the creation of the Startup Ecosystem Development Program (SEDP). These programs have been rolled out as building blocks for linkages between government and private sector initiatives.
According to Artie Lopez, Co-founder and startup coach of Brainsparks, a startup incubator and one of the private sector partners of Slingshot ASEAN, “One of the problems for startups is getting potential investors to know about them. Slingshot helps with that by bringing in both foreign and local investors in one place at one time to learn more and get involved with the local startup ecosystem.”
“There’s a saying that it takes a village to raise a child, and the same goes for startups. While they can be successful alone, it would accelerate their growth to have a strong support system.” he added.
The event is open for startup owners and entrepreneurs with business innovations by registering at the aseancbip2017.com or follow link posted at the Slingshot ASEAN social media accounts.