Prince Andrew, the Duke of York, has urged Asean leaders to create an entrepreneurial environment to ensure that future generations are better prepared for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.
Speaking at the Asean Business and Investment Summit 2019 (Abis) on Sunday, Prince Andrew insisted that young people should have entrepreneurial opportunities from an early age to make them ready for the future.
Abis was held in line with the 35th Asean Summit and its Related Summits that ended on Monday.
“It is not risk but uncertainty that they need to be aware of. Uncertainty will be there whether they like it or not. By giving them experiences at an early age, they will be in a position to diminish that fear,” he told the forum.
Prince Andrew said young people should have experiences “that are likely to lead to failure” in a school environment.
“Everybody in the business world will know it is only through failure at something you are going to be successful. But in our education system, especially in the UK, it is based on the continuous process of success and not failing. We have to give them some experiences of how to fail in a safe environment,” he said.
Prince Andrew drew on his personal experience to demonstrate how he supports young people to be entrepreneurial.
“I started two organisations. One is the digital enterprise award designed to give 7-14 year-olds opportunities to learn for themselves how to interact in the digital age and become more digitally-aware … Another organisation is Tycoon in Schools. All of these are about creating an atmosphere of experiences young people need,” he said.
However, Prince Andrew expressed concern about the barriers to entry when starting a business.
“If you are going to help entrepreneurs, you have to look at what concerns them. One thing that comes up is about the barriers to entry. You can encourage the government not to legislate and regulate too much. You can encourage them to think about being an enabler of business.
“Sometimes, getting ministers to agree does not necessarily take you to the next stage. It is about the fact that people agree that it is what they should be doing,” he said.
On scaling up businesses, Prince Andrew insisted that stakeholders should create sensible and usable regulations to overcome the barriers to entry.
“It requires the flexible financial system and structure. Without blood supply, businesses cannot flourish,” he added.
Moreover, Prince Andrew stressed that entrepreneurs should receive mentorship.
“Having someone you can speak with is going to make a difference. Many entrepreneurs have good ideas, but they are not good at getting business done. I am encouraging people who have knowledge to work alongside entrepreneurs to make them successful,” he said.
Prince Andrew urged the government to give entrepreneurs opportunities to access the supply chain and the distribution system because “it means that they will start to earn revenue”.