[5 October 2005]
SMU launches third Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition

The Singapore Management University (SMU) today launched the third biennial Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition. Open to all university undergraduates, college and polytechnic students from around the world, the competition requires students to submit business plans for a start-up or early stage venture and compete for a total of US$69,000 worth of cash prizes.

Organised with advisory assistance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition aims to provide an opportunity for budding entrepreneurs to test their business ideas on a global platform and pit their business acumen against students from other renowned international institutions. Student participants who already own actual start-ups can take this chance to increase visibility and raise the profile of their businesses. Those with sound business ideas can network with potential investors and venture capitalists to secure funding.

Judging criteria for this year's competition will be different where greater emphasis will be placed on actual business viability and feasibility of implementation. Judges will look beyond academic presentation for real evidence of sustainability in the business plans. Participants have to convince the judging panel that they are committed and have the resources to achieve their business ideas and turn them into reality in the business world.

SMU launched the inaugural Lee Kuan Yew Global Business Plan Competition in 2001 where a total of 203 business plans were received from 74 universities representing 30 countries. The winning team was from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States of America. The second run of the competition in 2003 saw 547 business plans from 74 universities spanning 35 countries, more than double the number of entries in the first run. The team from the National University of Singapore emerged champions.

The competition is open from 3 October 2005 to 29 March 2006. It will be conducted in three rounds: preliminary, semi-final and final. The top six teams will make it into the finals where they will be flown to Singapore to make their presentations before a panel of international judges in July 2006. Their air tickets and hotel accommodation will be paid for. The winning team will take home a cash prize of US$20,000. Prize money for the 2nd and 3rd positions is US$15,000 and US$10,000 respectively. The rest of the finalists will get US$5,000 per team.

Sharing the objective to promote entrepreneurship amongst tertiary students are Cerebos Pacific Limited as the presenting sponsor and HSBC as the supporting sponsor, which is seeking to nurture youth excellence through this prestigious international competition.

?SMU is proud to organize the third run of this competition which is named after Singapore 's founding father, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew who developed the defining business plan for the country. Once every two years, the best minds from tertiary institutions around the world challenge one another with the most brilliant of business ideas. We believe that young minds are quick to generate ideas which have potential to turn into multi-million ventures of the future,? said Professor Howard Hunter, President, Singapore Management University .

For more information about the competition, please visit www.smu.edu.sg/lky