Key players in the PNG ecosystem will soon announce a game-changing entrepreneurship education partnership to revolutionize education in PNG and the Pacific.

Anthony Smare, entrepreneur and international venture capitalist, says key players in PNG’s business ecosystem will set up a Local PNG Ecosystem Builder Collaboration Program where they will invite stakeholders including startups, universities, policy makers and government agencies, industry bodies, multilateral institutions and their major funders to collaborate on a private sector-led path towards a more resilient innovation ecosystem that will encourage young people as much as possible to engage in entrepreneurship.

He said this initiative will involve specific support from successful international ecosystem builders.

He said they would also build an angel investment network in PNG, and that would involve training wealthy Papua New Guineans in the art of angel investing and early-stage mentoring so they can be value-added investors and mentors for local and regional actors. startups but also internationally via a global network of angel investors.

“We are making progress in planning our second Startup PNG convention to be held in November in Port Moresby, which is intended to be the PNG version of the Global Entrepreneurship Conference 2022 bringing together all of our stakeholders, especially entrepreneurs, following of our inaugural convention. in 2019.

“We are also planning an international startup investment event which we will announce in due course,” he said.

Mr. Smare said they will be announcing a revival of the Kumul Game Changers program which will run annually for five years and they will also be hosting a number of global startup competitions that will facilitate entries and submissions from startups and entrepreneurs of PNG as they believe PNG has its share of entrepreneurs and startups that can compete with the best in the world.

“Finally, we will be building a PNG delegation for GEC 2023, which will be held in Melbourne in March 2023,” he said.

“We aim to bring in good-sized delegations of entrepreneurs, startups, government agencies, ecosystem builders, industry bodies and angel investors as part of the PNG delegation.”