The mai Bangkok Business Challenge @ Sasin 2008 Press Conference

The Market for Alternative Investment (mai) has cooperated with Sasin Graduate Institute in organizing the mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin 2008 for H.M. the King’s award.

Post graduate students from 17 countries worldwide entered the mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin 2008 to compete for H.M. the King’s award and cash prize of more than Bt800,000. The objective of the competition is to offer an opportunity for the new generation of business entrepreneurs to learn how to outline business plans which could create a joint investment. Co-sponsors of the event are the Kiatnakin Bank Public Co., Ltd. and the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET).

Professor Toemsakdi Krishnamra, Director of Chulalongkorn University’s Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration, said Sasin Graduate Institute in cooperation with the MAI would organize the mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin 2008 in which English language is used in outlining business plans. Participants in the event will compete for H.M. the King’s trophy award and cash prize of over Bt800,000. This year’s competition is organized for the sixth consecutive year and will be held during February 28 – March 1 at Sasin Graduate Institute of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn University.

“The competition on outlining business plans has become more exciting every year, both in terms of developing business plans and on student representatives participating in the event. This year, 45 teams from 17 countries including the Kellogg School of Management (Northwestern University), University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, London Business School, Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley submitted Summary Business Plans for the Qualifying Round. Business plans competing in the event this year have investment value of between US$500,000 – 7,500,000 involving in alternative energy, pharmaceutical and medicine, hygienic food and the IT industries,” said Prof. Toemsakdi.

Sixteen teams — 11 foreign and five Thai teams — have passed the Qualifying Round of the mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin 2008. These teams are from 10 countries including the People’s Republic of China, Denmark, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Morocco, Singapore, the United Kingdom, the United States and host Thailand.

Vichate Tantiwanich, Chairman of mai Advisory Committee, said ‘mai’ was pleased to be a part of building and developing a new generation of business entrepreneurs from the mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin competition which could be value added to the mai Matching Fund, create a joint investment, enjoy a growth and eventually listed on the mai.

“Business plans participating in the competition are feasible in terms of business and investment potential. They have high advantages on reaching funding sources. For example, the Oceanic Inc. team, which was established to develop and commercialize fish anesthetic for aquaculture industry and won last year’s competition, is now in the process of negotiating a joint investment while NTech which participated in the 2005 competition and has established a company called the Renewable Energy Co., Ltd. is now engaged in selling machinery used for producing bunker oil from wastes and rubber particles for industrial plants,” said Mr. Vichate.

Thitinan Wattanavekin, Head of Kiatnakin Bank Public Co., Ltd.’s Deposit and Marketing,said: “The Bank is very proud to play a supporting role for the mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin since the beginning up till now and to have created a new generation of outstanding business entrepreneurs. The Bank is confident that the mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin would give an opportunity to Thai students to display their business potentials. However, results of the competition are less important to new vision to be achieved by Thai students from their competitors as they would receive new practical business ideas and build innovative ones for future benefit. Kiatnakin Bank is ready to provide support on this kind of beneficial education so that efficient, knowledgeable personnel could be created and further develop the country in future.”

Besides the mai Bangkok Business Challenge® @ Sasin which will be held from 9.30 a.m. on February 28, 2008, the organizer will organize a seminar entitled “Entrepreneurship Forum & Kiatnakin Bank 99-Second Pitch” by Eric Rosenkranz, Chief Executive Officer of Singapore’s e.three and Mr. Yen-Lu Chow, Managing Director of WholeTree Ventures of Singapore.

Both speakers are successful businessmen in Asia. They previously provided advises and are experts on business synergy and also introduces firms to be listed on The NASDAQ Stock Market. They will exchange ideas on conducting business and offer knowledge to business players and to joint investment businesses.

16 Qualified teams are :-

1. Aether Lighting Pte. Ltd. – Nanyang Business School, Singapore

2. Argan Ino – Al Akhawayn University, Morocco

3. Bionergy Pvt. Ltd. – Warwick Business School, United Kingdom

4. CTech Bio Life – HKUST Business School, Hong Kong

5. HerbleMed – Chiangmai University, Thailand

6. HICH Herbal Ice-Cream House – Assumption University, Thailand

7. IMMUTELL – Aarhus School of Business, Denmark

8. Influx Pvt. Ltd. – Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand

9. i-Show – Peking University, China

10. PhotonWave Technologies – Indian School of Business, India

11. Sanjeevani – Indian Institute of Management Calcutta, India

12. Siam Heat Service Co., Ltd. – Thammasat University, Thailand

13. Urja Fuels Pvt. Ltd. – Management Development Institute, Gurgaon, India

14. Videntifier – Reykjavik University, Iceland

15. Walleco Technologies Co., Ltd. – Assumption University, Thailand

16. Wine with a Passion – Kellogg School of Management, U.S.A.