Go Negosyo youth forum inspires more young Pinoys

MANILA, Philippines - More than 30,000 Filipino youth made a choice and that is to make a change as they all gathered to take part in the recently concluded Go Negosyo Youth Entrepreneurship Summit 2010, held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City, which aimed to empower the young to acquire an entrepreneurial mindset and attitude.

Initiated by the Philippine Center for Entrepreneurship (PCE), the annual summit, titled Go Negosyo: Sigaw ng Kabataan Youth Entrepreneurship Summit (YES), recognized the potentials of the Filipino youth in order to put their youthful energy to good use.

“What we are trying to do here is to teach the young not to be mere entrepreneurs but to have the right values that are full of optimism and the mindset that is entrepreneurial because it is not impossible to dream. And the young entrepreneurs here today are real testaments of achievement,” said Joey Concepcion, founder of PCE and the Go Negosyo advocacy. 

Graced by Vice President Jejomar Binay, the Summit also awarded a new batch of Go Negosyo Inspiring Young Filipino Entrepreneurs including Raymond Choachuy, Bam Aquino, Mark Ruiz, Anton Diaz, Dylan Wilk, Camille Meloto, Anna Meloto-Wilk, Reese Fernandez, Cris Tanseco-Guerrero, Viva Andrada, Happy Andrada, Tricia Gosingtian, Rj David, Richard Sanz, Valerie Mendoza, Mary Grace Santos, and Timothy Joel Sarvida.

Other prominent people who came to support the youth entrepreneurial advocacy were PLDT SME Nation’s Kat Luna-Abelarde, GMA-7 CEO and president Atty. Felipe Gozon, Unilever Philippines president Fernando Fernandez, and BPI Family Savings Bank President Teodoro “TG” Limcaoco. Joining them were PCE Trustees Injap Sia, Ray Gapuz, Rosalind Wee, Carla Limcaoco, Prudencio Garcia, and Corazon Dayro Ong.

Furthermore, aspiring young entrepreneurs learned a number of trade secrets from the awardees, trustees and the Go Negosyo entrepreneurs and partners like youth idol Chris Tiu, Emerson Atanacio, Louie Gutierrez, Alan Escalona, Butch Salvador, Rosanna Llenado, Francis Simsim, Amil Azurin, Dr. Al Villarica, Aileen Apolo, Carlo Ople, Alvin Tan, Carlo Guerrero, Benedict Carandang, Dennis Ng, Atty. John Maclang, and Pocholo Gonzales.

But aside from the forums, the young crowd also got inspired by the powerful talk of Brother Bo Sanchez and his companion Alvin Barcelona who corrected the notion that being rich is bad.

“It is not bad to be wealthy and we must strive to do our best and become successful, so that we may be able to help others. Being poor and lazy does not make one closer to God. I remember the parable of the talents that urges all of us to find our talent and be the best at it and put it into good use and one that benefits not only you but the others as well,” Sanchez explained.

On the other hand, business guru Francis Kong motivated the listeners by sharing the secret to success: that one simply has to set his priorities, and work on it; to be God-centered and show concern for others. 

Other individual speakers like Manuel Tordesillas of ATR KimEng and international speaker Tommy Hutchinson of I-Genius also shared their expertise on money talk and social entrepreneurship, respectively.

As the plenary was ongoing, entrepreneur mentors and Angelpreneurs like Ping Sotto, Dean Pax Lapid, Joy Abaquin, Reuel Virtucio, Ed Pilapil, Tess Dimaculangan, Butz Bartolome, and our partners from PLDT SME Nation, Smart, Splash, BPI Family, Condura and Bizwiz Resources provided relevant and applicable tools and concepts on how they can start and grow their businesses in the Negosem in the seminar room. Other Angelpreneurs like Josiah Go, Paulo Tibig, Ardy Roberto, Carlo Calimon, Jorge Winiekie, George Saguinsin, Luis Cruz, and our Executive Director Mon Lopez also shared their time and expertise with the people seeking advice in the one-on-one booth mentoring sessions.

But apart from the main festivities of the summit 2010, Go Negosyo also launched its latest endeavor — the GO NEGOSYO TXTIPS service, which would give the public the chance to receive negosyo tips from the main man himself, Joey Concepcion.

“Through this text tips service, Go Negosyo’s reach would be wider and bigger as we will be able to bring across our message to more people through an accessible and easy channel which is texting,” said Concepcion.

He added, “We see this as another opportunity to instill among our countrymen an entrepreneurial culture to battle the problems of unemployment and poverty.”