Message: By Roy Thomasson, Chief Executive Officer, Young Americas Business Trust on the Launching of the Young Americas Business Trust in Antigua & Barbuda and Mini Business Lab for Young Entrepreneurs, October 28-29, 2010
Her Excellency, Deborah-Mae Lovell – Ambassad0r of Antigua and Barbuda to the OAS and USA
Donald Charles – General Manager, Antigua and Barbuda Development Bank
Jean Ricot Dormeus – Director, Country Office, Organization of American States
Distinguished Guests and Young People
First, please accept my most sincere apologies for not being with you today at the launching of the Young Americas Business Trust in Antigua and Barbuda. Unfortunately, a series of weather and travel complications prevented me from arriving today in time. This only strengthens our determination to work with you more closely in the future and to create a chapter of YABT in Antigua and Barbuda that will not only benefit young people in your beautiful country, but will serve as an exemplary model for the Caribbean region.
I nonetheless wanted to share with you my thoughts and to reiterate the support of YABT for the enthusiasm, leadership, and opportunities that we see as possible in Antigua and Barbuda. This event today is more than a launch since it is actually another step in the process of the development of YABT activities in Antigua and Barbuda that began with conversations that were several months ago with Ambassador Lovell, Mr. Charles of the Antigua & Barbuda Development Bank and Mr. Dormeus of the OAS.
Ambassador Lovell has represented your country particularly well in Washington and her interventions have benefited not only the young people of Antigua and Barbuda but it was under her term as Chair of the Permanent Council that youth initiatives at the OAS gathered new momentum. This also built on much work done by the YABT and the OAS over the years in creating employment opportunities for young people through entrepreneurship.
OAS studies of the labor markets in the Caribbean for many years have shown that the traditional wage sector cannot create sufficient employment opportunities for the numbers of young people leaving school each year or those already looking for work. Now we are ready to work with you to expand the wage sector to a higher level and to find new opportunities for young people through programs of small business development, entrepreneurship, leadership, and regional cooperation.
The Young Americas Business Trust was created not only as a national resource center for enterprising young people and organizations in both the public and private sectors, but also to create a regional space in both the Caribbean and Latin America where entrepreneurs can interact for business, trade opportunities, and cooperation to develop new and innovative strategies to engage young people in business and economic opportunities that benefit them, their families, communities and country.
I was asked to speak on “The Need for Entrepreneurship,” a topic that needs no introduction. We all see this need every day and this is more than just a set of statistics, or an economic report. For most of us, it is the young people we know who want to work; they often have skills, always have potential, and want to make a good start in life. The need is clear. Both government and the private sector recognize the importance this has for everyone, as not just young people are directly affected.
Island economies have special characteristics that create other challenges as well, including the small size of the local market for goods and services, the specialized market that emphasizes tourism, and other geographic factors that affect natural resources and trade. Likewise, today every country in the world must deal with new realities that technology and other rapid changes have made to the global economy and these changes will only continue and create new challenges, as well as opportunities.
The real need for entrepreneurship then is to see these new challenges not solely as problems but as new opportunities as well. And to be able to adapt to changes so that people and their communities not only survive, but thrive. The strategy to do this is often less obvious than the need. And this part is really about the “How-to.” This “how-to” thrive, not just survive, has two parts. The first is leadership and the second entrepreneurship. In this regard, all of us must also be both leaders and entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are by nature, leaders because they have a vision to see their problems as not obstacles but as opportunities. There is the need to transform their mindset so that each barrier becomes an achievement and that many barriers teach persistence, not failure.
After many years of working in this field in both the Caribbean, Latin America, and around the world, I am more convinced that ever that not only do young people have the talent to become entrepreneurs but they also have the skills and the persistence to be successful entrepreneurs and to be leaders in their communities and countries. I have seen it again and again.
And though we hear much about the success of Asia’s entrepreneurs, I also know from YABT’s programs that young entrepreneurs in the Americas can do just as well and can be global leaders as well. The need of entrepreneurship is the need to create the systems that open up these opportunities, teach these skills, and invest in young people so that they can be the leaders we need, not only for tomorrow but in our business communities today.
I am pleased that Antigua and Barbuda has leaders such as those who have assembled today to launch YABT there and those who will be meeting tomorrow to put in place a structure to produce results. I am especially pleased to see the keen interest from the Antigua and Barbuda Development Bank to be our major partner in Antigua and Barbuda. To us, this is logical and offers the opportunity for young people to benefit enormously from having such a strong institution behind the young entrepreneur programs in your country. Jean Ricot Dormeus, Country Representative for the OAS in Antigua and Barbuda has long been a friend of YABT at OAS Headquarters and I am sure he will also continue this enthusiasm as part of the YABT Team there. At YABT, we value teamwork and our team is made up of many active supporters.
We know that none of us can meet these challenges alone. That everyone must join in to be part of this program, to reach young people, to do what each of us can, to give hope today, and build for tomorrow. The stakeholders meeting tomorrow will be the first step in an on-going program of learning, networking, and business opportunities. In this, the Ministry of Youth is fundamental to reaching potential young entrepreneurs, the private sector in finding markets, and from YABT’s side to include you in our national and regional programs.
Just briefly, I want to highlight some potential future steps we can take together:
- YABT will plan to come back in early December to followup on today’s and tomorrow’s discussions and to work with you all to formulate a good plan for 2011.
- We will make a special effort to disseminate information about our Talent and Innovation Competition to young people in Antigua and Barbuda.
- We will work with interested sponsors to organize a TIC Americas national competition there and to work with young people to develop their business plans. In TIC Americas, everyone wins because everyone improves their business idea and plan in the process.
- We will consider organizing a regional workshop in Antigua and Barbuda in early 2011, not only to advance the organization of the program but also to bring together people from other Caribbean countries who may be interested in developing a regional initiative that will increase future financial resources for your efforts.
- We will work with the ABDB to devise a chapter of YABT that is both dynamic and growing. YABT believes that these programs are not only about opportunities for young people, but that young people are also vital to the process and YABT’s programs are largely based on the efforts of young people and by young people.
At YABT we are especially excited about YABT AB, our newest chapter. You join with other like-minded, enthusiastic, and entrepreneurial young people in a network that now reaches many countries in the Americas and around the world.
We simply ask two things of YABT national chapters:
- That you understand the importance of this work, both for you as an entrepreneur or an adult leader, for the future of your family and all of us in this family of nations, and
- That you be willing to jump in, add your ideas, energy, and enthusiasm to move forward.
Brett can ably explain in more detail the programs of YABT that range from opportunities to participate in the Summit of the Americas Young Americas Forum – to a new initiative emphasizing the potential of e-commerce, really the future of business. I am always impressed by the spirit and accomplishments of YABT chapters, people that work, people who are not depending on efforts or ideas from Washington or anywhere else except their town and neighborhood, people who are making a difference and creating a future that offers opportunities. Be assured that we will do everything we can from YABT to reinforce your work. Together, I think we can create many opportunities for young people in Antigua and Barbuda.
Our thanks to you all and I will see you soon!
Roy