Entrepreneur

Skype CEO Sees Growth in Middle East and Asia

Skype CEO Sees Growth in Middle East and Asia. Skype CEO Continues To See Growth In Middle East; Bets Big On Asia

Internet calling service Skype Ltd. Tuesday said that it continues to see growth opportunities in the Middle East despite being banned in parts of the area and is optimistic about the company’s growth potential in Asia.

“There are a couple of governments that officially banned Skype…but what we see in most of the developing world (is that) they are embracing Skype,” Chief Executive Officer Josh Silverman told Dow Jones Newswires.

Silverman is in Singapore to attend the CommunicAsia Conference that began Tuesday.

“I would say, we see growth in the Middle East in general,” Silverman said without getting into details on the ban of the service in the United Arab Emirates.

Currently, Skype cannot be downloaded in Oman, the UAE and Kuwait, although the software can be used if it is previously installed on a computer. The UAE Telecommunication Regulatory Authority said in March that Skype will be allowed to offer a greater range of services in the country if they are partnered with existing licensed telecom operators.

Silverman said that Skype sees strong growth potential in the Asia Pacific as the region has become globally connected due to an increasing number of expatriates and growing international trade.

“Special to Asia is that many people are having their first internet experience on a smart phone. So a big focus of ours is for them to have a really compelling experience,” Silverman said.

Skype has over 500 million registered users around the world and is adding 300,000 users a day. The company aspires to have 100 million personal computers shipped with Skype preloaded in 2011. Silverman declined to give growth projections by region.

Silverman said that his company was keen to offer Skype to BlackBerry and other mobile platforms in Asia. In February, Verizon Wireless announced that it was offering the Skype application on smartphones in the U.S.

On China, Silverman said that Skype’s local partner Tomonline was helping it comply with government regulations and that there was demand from Chinese making cross-border calls.

“We think being part of a global conversation is very important for Chinese citizens, entrepreneurs and Chinese families,” Silverman said.

He would not comment on whether his company plans a listing, saying only that Skype is profitable and has enough money for acquisitions “if it makes sense.”

India Franchise & Retail Opportunity Show (FRO)

FRO Mumbai on May 22 and 23, 2010 At 28th FRO’ 10 Mumbai, business visitors will discover a world of business concepts, showcased by multiple brands from various industries.

The show this year not only brings new exhibitors but also gets innovative concepts as a fresh wave to the business visitors. Brands need credible business-to-business platform to launch their opportunities, that ensures high visibility, serious investors and large networking prospect that gathers the complete industry together

The multi-city FRO Expo in its 28th edition is returning to Nehru Centre Mumbai in its 6th annual version. The show draws thousands of people from all over India and also neighbouring countries and almost close to 30% people would be there for most part of two days to make the most of the sizzling business environment exist in franchise fraternity. Supported by Indian Franchise Association

Malaysia Young Entrepreneurs

Malaysian entrepreneurial spirit. MoneyTree Maybank Young Entrepreneur Startup (YES) 2′ challenge

From online student portals to theme-cafés, from travel sites customized for student needs to food delivery businesses, the ideas were both brilliant and raw; and are at a stage where ideas are bursting from the boxes unrestrained

Read more about Malaysian entrepreneur mindset here and how they compete for grants of RM 25,000

Source: malaysiantoday.com

Read Full Story: Say YES for Entrepreneurial Spirit

Social Entrepreneur Competition Asia 2010

Social Entrepreneur of the Year Competition Asia 2010 by Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship

The Social Entrepreneur of the Year was established to recognize outstanding social entrepreneurs in Asia and around the globe

The Regional Search in Asia is open to all organizations in the region, except India, Indonesia, Japan, Philippines where national competitions is already open or planned

Top 3 most important criteria are

• Innovation
• Sustainability
• Direct social impact

The Schwab Foundation will also consider the 2 criteria

• Reach and Scope
• Replicability

The Schweitzerland-based Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship is a not-for-profit, independent and neutral organization, founded in 1998

Their purpose to advance social entrepreneurship and to foster social entrepreneurs as an important catalyst for societal innovation and progress

Global Entrepreneurship Week

Global Entrepreneurship Week, the world’s first-ever celebration of enterprising behaviour, comes at a time of massive economic change.

Recognising the global nature of many of the challenges we face, Global Entrepreneurship Week aims to connect enterprising young people with their counterparts all over the world, and ultimately create a global movement of entrepreneurial people.

Created by the UK’s business-led, government-backed Make Your Mark campaign and the US-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the first Global Entrepreneurship Week will see millions of young people participate.

Globally more than 13,000 events are taking place in 77 countries involving an estimated five million people, from Bolivia to Bulgaria and Mexico to Mozambique.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who launched Enterprise Week in the UK – the model taken for Global Entrepreneurship Week, said: “Global Entrepreneurship Week brings young people together across national borders, taking enterprise to the classroom and giving young people the confidence and self-belief not only to develop tomorrow’s big ideas but to put them into practice. “And Global Entrepreneurship Week will reach millions of young people – half a million in Britain alone, and to each one of them my challenge is this:

Believe in your ideas and make them happen. Because entrepreneurial spirit changes the world and it changes it for good. “You can be making a difference, so be bold, be imaginative, be brilliant. That’s really what this week is all about. Enjoy it.”

Carl Schramm, President and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation said: “For seven days, millions of young people around the world will be introduced to entrepreneurship and encouraged to think about how innovation can take them anywhere, no matter their location on the map. “Now more than ever it is imperative that we do everything we can to promote enterprise. As the world global economic downturn deepens, we are relying on entrepreneurial people with new thinking to lead us out of the recession.”

The President of Portugal, Prof. Aníbal Cavaco Silva said “I’m proud to associate my-self to this movement to wake-up, stimulate and mobilize, in particular young generations, the spirit of entrepreneurship, creativity and initiative.”

Jack Ma, Alibaba about Entrepreneurship

SME Financing – When it comes to securing financial support, entrepreneur Jack Ma, chairman and CEO of China’s Alibaba Group, has this advice for small and medium-sized enterprises: don’t rely on the government and the banks; rely instead on your family and friends

Speaking in Singapore, Ma told a regional SME conference that every country needs a financial incentive package to support the growth of SMEs because all big companies start as small businesses, adding that the SMEs of today will be tomorrow’s major companies like eBay, Google and UPS

Ma, himself, knows the pains of growing a business. In 1999, he founded the Alibaba Group, which has grown to five e-commerce companies operating business-to-business, retail, third-party online payment portals and cloud computing development services. The group employs 17,000 people in China, Japan, Korea, the UK and the US

Source: Insead

Read Full Article Here: SME financing: small businesses struggle to survive the downturn

Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards

Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards recognizes and honors Asian businesses for championing sustainable and responsible entrepreneurship in the four categories namely:

• Green Leadership
• Community Engagement,
• Investment in People, and
• Responsible Business Leadership

This is in line with Enterprise Asia’s two founding pillars, which are Responsible Entrepreneurship and Investment in People