UNCTAD and Alibaba Business School Enroll Second Class of Asian Entrepreneurs under the eFounders Fellowship

Fourth cohort of 40 selected, comprising participants from 11 Asian countries –a record for the program

Class Four is now in session for the second group of Asian entrepreneurs participating in the eFounders Fellowship, a program jointly administered by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and Alibaba Business School. 40 participants from a record 11 countries across South and Southeast Asia were selected from over 300 applicants to take part in an intensive 14-day bootcamp, providing first-hand exposure to e-commerce best practices and innovations from China and around the world.

Within the framework of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, the initiative was first developed to help ensure no one is left behind in the digital economy by bridging the digital divide faced by businesses in emerging markets. The program is part of the commitment by Jack Ma, Alibaba Group’s founder and Executive Chairman and UNCTAD Special Adviser, to empower 1,000 budding entrepreneurs from developing countries within five years.

For the first time, entrepreneurs from Singapore, India, Bangladesh and Myanmar join peers from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Pakistan. Collectively, the participants represent various industries including e-commerce, logistics, fintech, tourism and big data. All participants are founders of promising start-ups and will graduate as eFounders Fellows, an exclusive community of like-minded young entrepreneurs who will catalyze digital transformation in their home countries.

“This initiative, done together with Alibaba Business School, can be considered as a successful partnership model covering many elements of the global goals,” says Arlette Verploegh, Coordinator of the eFounders Fellowship at UNCTAD. “We notice that young entrepreneurs, and in particular those participating in this initiative, demonstrate a strong commitment to contribute to a better world. Enhancing the digital economy, developing rural areas and including vulnerable groups in the workforce through training and recruitment in developing countries are among some of the major takeaways since the eFounders Fellowship was launched one year ago.”

The eFounders Fellowship has already enrolled three classes prior to the latest cohort, starting with a pilot project with 24 African entrepreneurs and followed by a class of 37 entrepreneurs from Southeast Asia and South Asia. The third class returned to the African continent, with 29 Africa-based business owners participating in the program.

“We are delighted to be able to continue advancing our vision to empower digital champions and communities around the world and include even more talents from new Asian markets. The eFounders Fellowship is growing from strength-to-strength with each cohort, and we already are starting to see the positive impact and outcomes this promising community is creating in their home markets,” said Brian A. Wong, Vice President of Alibaba Group, who heads the Global Initiatives program.

“We aim to inspire entrepreneurs from these regions to serve as evangelists in building a more inclusive digital development model that is good for their business and at the same time spread the digital economy paradigm in these countries and benefit the society at large,” he added.

Advisors from five Asian countries will be inducted into a network overseeing and supporting the continual development of the latest batch of budding Asian entrepreneurs after graduation. These advisors will also be a part of the course in order to better understand the program and entrepreneurs under their charge.

The eFounders Fellowship reflects Alibaba’s mission to help small businesses succeed beyond their home markets, and was first announced in 2017 by Jack Ma in his capacity as the UNCTAD Special Adviser for young entrepreneurs and small business when he, together with Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Secretary-General of UNCTAD, visited Africa.

For more information on the eFounders Fellowship, please visit:
https://agi.alibaba.com/efounders-fellowship and http://unctad.org/en/pages/newsdetails.aspx?OriginalVersionID=1615

Zoltán is a self-taught publisher and events organizer who has developed several brands and services that have increased the notoriety of his company within multi-billion dollar industries. In 2018, he has become a TEDx speaker and talked about reputation management in the digital era. As Co-Founder of HIPTHER Agency, Zoltan has helped develop highly respected online news portals, virtual and in-person conferences that cater to multiple industries on 5 continents. Among the developed brands and services you can find online news portals that cover several tech industries, gaming, blockchain, fintech, artificial intelligence, and more. In parallel, the company has built a portfolio of annually organized boutique-style conferences in Europe and North America. All the events organized by his company focus on bringing a wealth of information about the latest innovation in several industries such as Entertainment, Technology, Gaming and Gambling, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Fintech, Quantum Technology, Legal Cannabis, Health and Lifestyle, VR/AR, eSports and many more. Zoltan enjoys writing articles on all portals owned by the HIPTHER Agency, talking at conferences, hosting the weekly HIPTHER Talks Podcast, and loves spending time with his family. Zoltan is a duathlete who enjoys training for different international competitions which include running and cycling.