First Uganda-South Korea Business Forum to be held in Kampala

May 12, 2016

This will be on the 29th of this month

The first ever meeting of business minds from Uganda and South Korea will be held on the 29^th of this month in Kampala. This was revealed by the South Korean Ambassador in Uganda, Park Jong Dae.

A total of 150 top CEOs and businessmen will fly into the country from South Korea accompanied by at least 70 media practitioners who will highlight the event to the World.

The meeting is organized by the Embassy in partnership with Private Sector Foundation Uganda.

The revelation came during a meeting at the Embassy with the judges of New Vision's flagship entrepreneurship award project, the Pakasa Youth Awards.

The team of judges were presenting a report of their findings to the Embassy as one of the lead partners of the awards. The embassy is to sponsor the 10 winners on a trip to South Korea, one of the top entrepreneurial countries in the World.

Lead judge Maria Odido highlighted the increasing interest amongst young people to startup businesses amidst challenges.

"Financial assistance is as a much a challenge to start ups as is for established businesses. What these young people need is motivation, exposure and tips on how it works," she said.

The winners who will be announced at a later date include eight males and two females. The gender bias however the judges blamed it on the limited number of submissions from women.

"There are so many enterprising women out there but need to be encouraged to be proud of what they are doing," she said.

Ambassador Jong expressed optimism on the impact the campaign has had drawing from the number of submissions.

Jong explained that the purpose for the awards is to inspire young people into taking charge of their economic breakthrough other than waiting for government.

"Western countries can afford to give immense benefits to their population because they have over time created wealth. So before you expect to be given, wealth has to be created," he said.

South Korea which is the 7^th largest exporting country is home to some of the world's leading multinational companies such as electronic giants Samsung Group and LG Corporation. It has a population of about 50 million people.

The winners who will visit South Korea according to Jong will be able to draw lessons from from a country that has developed amidst scarce natural resources.

Uganda has continuously been ranked among the most entrepreneurial countries in the world but the largest percentage of these enterprises hardly survive to see their second birthday.

New Vision's Managing Editor, David Mukholi explained that there is a growing hunger for people to see those that are succeeding and learn from them.

"New Vision is using its different platforms to highlight the success stories and inspire many others," he said.

Mukholi added that from the stories, people are able to see that it is not all hopeless. There are amazing things happening out there.

He highlighted that the winners will receive a cash prize worth sh10m, trip to South Korea and a plague. There will also certificates for the top 50 winners.

The judges panel included Maria Odido, the CEO Bee Natural Products Limited and Chairperson of Uganda Export Promotion Board, Diana Ntamu, the Director of the Entreprenurship Centre at Makerere University Business School, John Walugembe, the Executive Director of Uganda Small Scale Industries Association, Jonathan Kivumbi, a senior entrepreneurship teacher and Helena Okiring, the team leader at Dream Inititiative for Global Advancement of Social Arts.