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Press Release 20
October 2003
Bangalore, India –
October 15 -19 2003, Perceptivei Chief Executive Officer, Mr.
Carlos Nicholas Fernandes addressed representatives from NGOs,
governments, and the private sector at the ‘Asia Regional
Consultation on Youth Entrepreneurship Development’. The event was
organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government
of India and the Commonwealth Youth Programme Asia Centre,
Commonwealth Secretariat.
In response to
media enquiries from India regarding his thoughts on bilateral
trade between the countries of Singapore and India, Mr. Fernandes
underscored the importance of cooperation between the two
countries and cited the natural cohesiveness of the two economies.
He indicated that Singapore’s value add to India would be the
knowledge capital and the expertise Singapore has gained over the
years in terms of improving efficiency and productivity. He cited
the manufacturing sector as an example of an opportunity for
collaboration that could help India move up the value chain and
gain a larger piece of the global manufacturing pie.
Mr. Fernandes
pointed out that India’s rural population is significant at about
70% and urged the initiation of mass self-employment schemes in
rural areas to increase per-capita income. Elaborating on the idea
of ‘mass self-employment’ Mr. Fernandes suggested that NGOs needed
to identify the natural core competencies of individual villages
that take into consideration geographical and cultural aspects as
well as the skills of the resident population. He explained that
NGOs would also need to build relationships with the private
sector to facilitate the establishment of sales channels in order
to ensure sustainability of the new enterprises. He added that
technology could play a key role in helping achieve a quantum leap
for such economies by establishing distribution channels for
rurally developed products. He highlighted the case of a village
with a woman over the age of sixty that had learnt HTML and
successfully drew interest for the village products from overseas
markets.
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Mr. Fernandes
cautioned that rising salaries in urban areas could potentially
prove an inhibitor to the growth of entrepreneurship. He drew
parallels between developed economies and the future of
high-growth urban cities in developing nations. He stated that a
culture of entrepreneurship would need to be further developed to
draw people toward an entrepreneurial lifestyle in order to
counter the effects of high incomes that could stifle
entrepreneurial activity.
The strategies
outlined from this round of talks will be distributed as
recommendations among the governments of the member nations of the
Commonwealth in Asia. |
Media Enquiries
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About Mr. Carlos
Nicholas Fernandes
(Media Contact:
pr@Perceptivei.com)
Called
an 'Ideas Man' by one of Asia's leading newspapers, cited by the
Singaporean administration as entrepreneurial talent that has made
his mark on the country, covered extensively by the media, Mr.
Fernandes is one of Singapore's well known entrepreneurs. He is
the founding CEO of Perceptivei, a company that develops
enterprise software for Governments, Fortune 500 and blue chip
customers. In recognition of his impact on society and the
technology sector in Singapore and the region, Mr. Fernandes was
named 'Young Professional of the Year' by the Singapore
Computer Society (SCS), a 17,000 member strong society that
represents Singapore's largest IT professional body. He is also
the recipient of the prestigious Tan Kah Kee Young
Inventors' Award. With a strong belief in affecting positive
social change, Mr. Fernandes co-founded LDKids, an initiative
to help learning disabled children cope with the
academic environment of today. LDKids has been widely
noted internationally, including the BBC and SKY News. As
a frequent industry speaker, he plays a key role in
fostering entrepreneurship in Singapore, the broader ASEAN region
and works with the Singapore Government and educational
institutions in this mission. In addition to chairing the
Knowledge Management & E-Learning Special Interest Group (SIG) at
SCS, Mr. Fernandes is actively involved in various programs to
nurture the development of the infocomm industry in Singapore for
the years to come.
About
Perceptivei Pte. Ltd.
(Media Contact: pr@Perceptivei.com)
Formed
specifically to address the problems and challenges of online
customer service and acquisition, Perceptivei is the preeminent
provider of next generation, Emotionally Intelligent Interfaces
and Anticipatory service technologies. Most notably, Perceptivei
technology was voted by the California-based RealWare Awards as
one of the Top 4 Customer Interaction and Business Intelligence
Applications of 2002. Perceptivei is also the recipient of several
other awards and accolades including those from Singapore’s
National Science and Technology Board, Economic Development Board,
Sybase and Hewlett Packard. Perceptivei’s customers include
Fortune 500 and blue chip customers like Great Eastern Life.
About
Commonwealth Youth Programme (CYP)
Commonwealth Youth
Programme works for a world where young women and men (15-29
years) can reach their full potential - Where they can use their
creativity and skills as productive members of their societies.
CYP is the
youth department of the Commonwealth Secretariat. The Commonwealth
Secretariat carries out the decisions of Commonwealth Heads of
Government. CYP has Regional Centres for Africa, Asia, the
Caribbean and the South Pacific. These are located in Zambia,
India, Guyana and Australia respectively.
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