Brain into Business (Graduate Entrepreneurship / Upadhidari Vyawasayake Udanaya)

Brain into Business (Graduate Entrepreneurship / Upadhidari Vyawasayake Udanaya)

National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA) promotes micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) in-country. MSMEs have been identified to play a crucial role in the economic development process and to alleviate poverty & solve unemployment in the country. As per statistics, MSMEs play a critical role in providing employment and contributing to the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) in the year 2013, the contribution of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) contributed 40% of the country’s GDP, and it was 52% in the year 2014. Especially, statistics from the ILO shows a continued rise in the proportion of unemployed youth and supporting youth to engage in an enterprise is one of the solutions to the problem of youth unemployment. Having understood this fact, NEDA launched a specialized program for motivating university graduates, in order to develop them as successful entrepreneurs by improving their capabilities and directing towards opportunities in the business world. It requires a more concrete effort to embed entrepreneurship education and the development of soft skills in order to create a conducive environment for this initiative. NEDA is in the view that the present carrier guidance units of Universities will play a crucial role to make entrepreneurial graduate so that it will become a unit that helps creates career opportunities to others by producing graduate entrepreneurs.

NEDA firmly believes that the background of graduates, especially in the fields of Commerce, Science, Agriculture, Veterinary and Engineering disciplines have much potential to promote graduate entrepreneurship. Since entrepreneurial education or related activities have not been in the education process, those graduates are unaware of the practical aspects of entrepreneurship.

It is worth to promote entrepreneur with a specialized product that will not have a competition or less competition over a conventional product. Even for conventional products, the background of the educated entrepreneurs will present them in an innovative manner so that he or she will be able to sell those products to a niche market. High level of professionalism, I/T background, network with professionals and ability to access Universities, Research and Development organizations through his or her colleague, will make an unmatched background for innovative business undertaking by the graduate entrepreneur.

Success So far..... 

98 graduates have been promoted so far under the UVU program as entrepreneurs. From the University of Peradeniya, the University of Wayamba, University of Colombo, University of the Sr Jayawardenapura University of Jaffna, University of Kelaniya, University of Uva Wellassa, University of Ruhuuna, University of Sabaragamuwa and Rajarata University. Those graduates are comprised of immediate passed out graduates, graduates passed out in recent years and postgraduates’ students.

Presently, NEDA is facilitating that 98-business establishment in Business registration, access to finance, access to Business Development Services are the major areas the development officer of NEDA facilitated. Contrary to general MSME’s development programs, request for marketing assistance were reported minimum. Also, NEDA is evaluating the success and failures and based on which future programs will be fine-tuned.