“The Power of Youth is about taking young people who are really good at generating financial capital, and using them to inspire others and drive collaboration which can turn their ideas into action,” says Adam Purvis, founder of the project. It is hoped that the five-day conference in Tianjin, which runs alongside an EU-China Year of Youth event which will be attended by Premier Wen Jiabao, will not only provide an environment for Europe and China’s top young entrepreneurs to discuss ideas, but also lead on to the development of new businesses.
“Put young entrepreneurs in a room together and they will find opportunities and turn them into businesses. I believe European and Chinese entrepreneurs have really complementary skill sets. We are very different but it’s in these differences that we find areas we can collaborate and both grow.” Purvis hopes to take the model worldwide, with India next on the agenda in 2012. But he chose to begin with China because of his own personal experience in the country, as well as the potential he sees for collaboration between European and Chinese businesses.
The Power of Youth has already secured support from the European Commission, the British Council and Tianjin’s local government to turn any ideas that come out of the conference into reality. The Tianjin local government has pledged 5 square kilometers of land in the city on which to site collaborative businesses.
The European Commission will provide flight tickets to China for each of the 27 European entrepreneurs. In return both the Commission and Chinese government hope not only to inspire a new generation of Sino-European entrepreneurs, but also to receive feedback from top young business people on key issues affecting both the EU and China, including the energy crisis, urbanization and the repercussions of an ageing population.
The Power of Youth have now set the dates for the inaugural summit for the 20th to the 24th of October, and welcome all candidates to be available from the 20th of 27th of October to take part in some extracurricular fun in China’s capital.
For more info you may visit -> www.power-of-youth.org or contact directly Mr. Gurjit Singh Lalli, POY Director at [email protected]
Inspiring a New Generation of Sino-European Entrepreneurs
The Power of Youth (POY) will host a conference in Tianjin, China later this year in which top young entrepreneurs from all 27 EU member states will meet their Chinese counterparts to discuss everything from collaborative projects to economic policy.
“Put young entrepreneurs in a room together and they will find opportunities and turn them into businesses. I believe European and Chinese entrepreneurs have really complementary skill sets. We are very different but it’s in these differences that we find areas we can collaborate and both grow.”
By: N. Peter Kramer
