Blended Learning Course on Entrepreneurship - Kick Off

by Dalin Seng, Alumni Liaison Officer Cambodia.

Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the GIZ Global Partners of Germany Alumni Programme commenced the 1^st module of a Blended Learning Course on Entrepreneurship in the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) for Alumni in Cambodia and Vietnam with an introductory face-to-face meeting at GIZ Country Office in Cambodia.

The course consists of three main modules: Face-to-Face Meeting, Virtual Learning, and Wrap-up Face-to-Face Meeting. The main objective of the course is to strengthen entrepreneurial skills of alumni in the ASEAN region for the course shall provide alumni with the necessary skills and guidance to develop creative regional products to boost their competitiveness within the AEC.

Ms. Stephanie Ludwig, Project Manager for the Alumni Programme in Cambodia, lead the 2-day training and highlighted the significant role of entrepreneurs in the ASEAN member economies and the need to tap opportunities as ASEAN moves towards a single market.

Fourteen alumni from Cambodia and Vietnam were inspired and motivated to enhance their business competitiveness as their countries are preparing for the AEC. The face-to-face session focused on imparting foundations of business management and opportunities in the AEC while promoting team work among the participants. In the face-to-face meeting, participants worked in cross-country and multi-disciplinary teams to develop and analyse regional business ideas with consideration of local contexts. Business ideas emerged from diverse fields of interest of participants including organic food and agriculture, environment, human resource consulting, healthcare and sustainable transport. Participants showed keen interest in acquiring technical skills that can be practically applied in the real business world.

“I learnt not only a lot of expertise on systematic entrepreneurship skills but also networking with many friends and course-mates who share similar interests in running and developing their own start up biz entities.”

Mr. Nguyen Dang Vu Long, Vietnamese participant

During the first meeting the alumni were also linked through various online and social media tools. These tools provide a platform for the alumni participants to develop professional relationships with fellow entrepreneurs during the course, to provide input to each other's business ideas and course work as well as to build a cross-country network beyond the course as well. Right after the meeting in Phnom Penh, the second phase of the course, the virtual learning, started. Participants are getting their hands on online collaborative software tools to advance their learning as they prepare their individual business plans step-by-step over the course of an eight week online programme.