Asia business-plan contest to get under way in Hawai'i

By Dan Nakaso
Advertiser Staff Writer

Teams from 12 Asian business schools and the University of Hawai'i begin competing tomorrow to see who has the best idea and plan for an innovative business and to possibly link up with venture capitalists.

UH's College of Business will host the two-day competition for the second year in a row, after the Asia Moot Corp competition moved to Hawai'i from Hong Kong. First prize and $5,000 goes to the team that combines the most innovative idea, best business plan and presentation.

Last year's winner from Zhongshan University — now Lingnan College Sun Yat-sen University — won for its plans for a stone processing company. The team then finished as a runner-up in its division at the Austin Moot Corp competition at the University of Texas at Austin. The Austin event is billed as the most lucrative business plan competition for MBA students.

Sun Yat-sen University will send a different team to the Asia version of the contest in Hawai'i this year. Others are coming from Shanghai, China; Thailand; Japan; South Korea; Taiwan; Hong Kong; India; and Singapore.

Organizers call the Asia Moot Corp competition the premier event of its kind in the Asia Pacific region. It is designed to help give Hawai'i a reputation as a friendly place for startups, launch new companies and expand entrepreneurial studies.

Divisional rounds will be from 9 to 11:30 a.m. tomorrow at the Ala Moana Hotel. The final round will be from 1:15 to 4:15 p.m. Thursday at the East-West Center's Imin International Conference Center.

The Asia Moot Corp follows a similar business plan contest put on by the UH College of Business and the Pacific Asian Business Center for Entrepreneurship & E-Business. The Hawai'i competition offers a first-place prize of $25,000 and connects entrants with business mentors and speakers.