[24 October 2001]
Singapore Management University Launches Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition

Competition is First of its Kind for Undergraduates with Prestigious International Judges

The Singapore Management University (SMU), with advisory assistance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, will be launching the inaugural Lee Kuan Yew (LKY) Global Business Plan Competition on 24 October 2001.

The LKY Global Business Plan Competition marks the first ever international business plan competition to be organised at the undergraduate level, targeting students from universities, colleges and polytechnics internationally. With the competition, SMU aims to reinforce the synergistic relationship between education and entrepreneurship in the new economy by encouraging undergraduates from around the world to develop their entrepreneurial inclinations, as well as opening opportunities for them to have their business plans reviewed and even possibly accepted as actual business propositions by venture capitalists.

The competition is also unprecedented in its involvement of an impressive international panel of judges comprising business leaders, venture capitalists and academics from USA, North America, Germany, London, India, Japan, Istanbul, Holland, Mexico, Hong Kong, Switzerland and Singapore. Some of the world-renowned corporations and companies who have recognised the value of such a competition and agreed to participate as judges are Citigroup, CISCO Systems, Egon Zehnder International, Boston Consulting Group, GP Batteries International, and JP Morgan, JAFCO Investment (Asia Pacific) Ltd, Crimson Ventures, Springboard-Harper Investment Pte Ltd, UOB Venture Management, Temasek Capital and Asia Techno Ventures.

Besides judges, the LKY Global Business Plan Competition has attracted the participation of major sponsors. These are Citigroup, Cisco Systems, Egon Zehnder International, Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and Shangri-La Hotel Singapore. The Economic Development Board and Infocomm Development Authority have also pledged for their support for the competition.

To facilitate and attract international participants and judges, SMU has capitalised on its IT resources to develop a unique online mechanism, allowing participants to file their submissions electronically and enabling the panel of judges to evaluate and rank the preliminary round from their home country.

In organising this competition, SMU aims to position Singapore as a hub for higher education and technology-oriented entrepreneurship, as well as to raise awareness of Singapore's aspirations and capabilities in the knowledge-based industries.

Details of the competition
The LKY Global Business Plan Competition will comprise three phases:

• Submission - participating team are required to submit a 2000-word business concept outline by Wednesday, 2 January 2002.
• Semi-finals - participating teams that are short-listed for the semi-finals will be informed by Monday, 11 February 2002. Semi-finalists are required submit 5000-word full business plans by Monday, 11 March 2002.
• Finals and Results - finalists will be announced by Monday, 15 April 2002 and winners on Friday, 24 May 2002.

Participating teams stand to win up to a total of US$69,000 in prize money (first prize of US$20,000), a complimentary trip to Singapore and a two-night stay at a luxurious Singapore hotel to make their presentation to a panel of international judges for the Finals.