Young Samoan Entrepreneurs Get Down To Business
5 August 2004
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| Participants enjoyng a brainstorming session. |
The five men and 15 women participating in the event were from the private sector, most of them already in business or about to initiate new ventures. A wide variety of youth enterprises were represented -- computer services, car rentals, fashion outlets, sporting facilities, restaurants and farming.
The training was conducted through a partnership between the Commonwealth Youth Programme, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the private sector company, the Adidem Group (which owns the Body Shop and Accessorise retail chains), with the support of the Samoan Ministry of Women, Community Affairs and Social Development. The Samoa Small Business Enterprise Centre co-ordinated the logistical and administrative arrangements for the workshop. It was part of a series of youth enterprise training programmes undertaken by the consortium in the South Pacific each year. A similar one had been conducted in Nadi, Fiji Islands, in mid-July this year.
The Samoa workshop was officially opened by the Minister for Women, Community Affairs and Social Development, Tuala Ainiu Iusitino. In his address, he encouraged the young entrepreneurs to "learn as much as possible and to use their newly acquired knowledge and skills to promote and foster successful entrepreneurship in Samoa."
"This workshop has given me new skills to run my business more effectively," said Ateca Ane Lesa, 20, manager of 'The Oasis', a health centre located in downtown Apia. Her ambition is to extend her premises and offer a wide variety of body therapy products to professional and business people in Apia.
"A totally unique experience -- I learned many new skills in just a week," said Joyce Jamal Tavita, who is 19. Mrs Tavita manages 'Mountain Fresh Eggs', with her husband. Their business provides eggs to many restaurants and cafes in Apia and the venture has been growing steadily over the years. Mrs Tavita, also a young mother, says her parents have helped her to deal with the challenges of business and motherhood.
For Jeff Liew, UNDP Regional Manager and co-trainer, one of the main highlights of the workshop was the strengthening of the Young Entrepreneurs of Samoa (YES!) association. "To demonstrate the importance of networking, graduates from the last (2003) workshop who formed YES! were invited to share their experiences on how they had applied the skills they had acquired to grow their own businesses. So participants were able to see the benefits of joining the YES! network -- to support each other as well as having a collective voice in shaping policies that will benefit all young entrepreneurs in Samoa."
CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 195 4 August 2004
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