MBA contest comes to Hawai'i

By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer

Business students from 14 Asian universities will pitch plans for startup ventures at an international competition this month at the University of Hawai'i.

Asia Moot Corp 2002, the Pacific Rim spinoff of MBA business plan competition Moot Corp, will run March 13-15 at UH and Kapi'olani Community College.

Teams including Hong Kong's Chinese University, Japan's Waseda University, South Korea's Yonsei University and UH will compete for the $5,000 first prize and a chance to advance to the national contest in May, with a grand prize of $100,000.

The prize goes to the business plan most likely to succeed. The contest is designed to emulate the fund-raising process, with judges acting as potential venture capital investors, according to the Moot Corp Web site.

UH officials said the contest, one of several regional branches of the international competition, will help the state enhance its image as a good site for startups.

"This helps position UH and Hawai'i as a place entrepreneurs gather to flesh out their business plans," said professor Shirley Daniel, director of the UH College of Business Administration's Pacific Asian Management Institute.

Austin Moot Corp, a contest started 18 years ago at the University of Texas in Austin, bills itself as the original, most lucrative business plan competition for MBA students. This is the first year UH will be host to the Asia branch of the contest, a position it hopes to keep.

The competition is similar to UH's own business plan contest, which runs from January to May. Daniel said UH might shift its contest, now in its second year, so the winner can compete in the next Asia Moot Corp.

Reach John Duchemin at jduchemin@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8062.