SINGAPORE- Media OutReach - 13 November 2018 - The Singapore BusinessFederation hosted the 3^rd ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival (AYEC) on13-14 November 2018, in conjunction with the ASEAN Business & InvestmentSummit in Singapore.

Some 300 youngbusiness leaders from 10 ASEAN countries, China, India and Australia gathered inSingapore for the AYEC event, themed 'Smart Leaders: Smart Business'.

With Singapore asChair of ASEAN in 2018, AYEC is being organised in partnership with thenational young entrepreneur organisations from 12 countries.

Focus onfinancing and innovation to help growth and transformation in businesses, theconference highlighted the use of artificial intelligence and analytics to helpyoung leaders improve their business performance, and learnt about innovativestrategies to strengthen management capabilities in their respectivebusinesses.

There wereseveral networking and collaborative sessions tailored for five specificindustry sectors: IT & Technology,Agribusiness & Commodities, Construction & Real Estate Development,Supply Chain & Logistics, andConsumer & Lifestyle.

The openingaddress was given by Mr Kesavan Sathyamoorthy, AYEC Chairman, and this was followedby a high-level dialogue with Guest-of-Honour Ms Sim Ann, Singapore's SeniorMinister of State for Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry ofCulture, Community and Youth. The dialogue included panellists Mr Lionel Yeo,CEO Advisor of Grab; and Ms Chong Ee Rong, Singapore Business Federation (SBF)Council Member and Chair of SBF Young Business Leaders Network (YBLN).

Mr Sathyamoorthy said: "The ASEAN Young EntrepreneursCarnival is centred on the core principles of partnership and collaboration toenable aspiring young leaders to step forward and drive business and economicgrowth in the region. With technology and analytics becoming ever important inbusiness today, AYEC 2018 has embedded these core themes into this forum." 

There were twoagreements signed during the event. The first agreement was between AYEC andthe Council Confederation of Indian Industry where both parties willcollaborate to support the growth of ASEAN and Indian trade and investment championsamong young entrepreneurs and startups.

A second agreementbetween AYEC and the China Young Entrepreneurs Association was also signedbetween both parties to seed greater collaboration between young entrepreneurs'groups in these countries.

The AYEC is a regional young entrepreneurs organisation incubated by theASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN-BAC).