Entrepreneurship network for disabled set to launch

The network aims to help Asean’s 56 million-plus disabled persons and 100 million vulnerable poor gain access to economic development and job opportunities to better their quality of life, officials said.

Seventy delegates from Asean governments, the private sector, and disabled people’s groups discussed the matter at a Phuket workshop from May 8 to 10. The project is also expected to provide a platform for Asean-member representatives and the business community to exchange views and implement mechanisms on entrepreneurship for these marginalised people, and to finalise proposals on the network’s formation. 

Napa Setthakorn, secretary-general of Thailand’s Office for Empowerment for Persons with Disabilities, said the Phuket workshop followed up on last year’s workshop to build expertise and share knowledge and experience from each country.

The initial workshop last year had simply explored an overview of social enterpreneurship and its roles in empowering disable and vulnerable persons in the Asean region.

Terms of reference for the project were adopted after the latest meeting and will be submitted to the Asean secretariat for approval by Asean leaders later this year. 

Kelvin Ng, the chief operating officer at Singapore’s Islington College, who was invited by the meeting to share his expertise on social enterprise in Asean, said many ideas had sprung up on how the region could improve the lives of its disadvantaged citizens.

 “One of idea we came up with [in the first meeting] was to make sure that the network would be a knowledge centre comprised of documents, best practices and case studies on success stories that we can make available to all Asean members.