US to Foster Angel Investor Groups in Indonesia, as Secretary Clinton Remarks
US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton was pleased to announce that Indonesia is one of the five countries in the world in which the United States will work to foster angel investor groups and connect them with startups and entrepreneurs.
Finalists have found new customers and new investors and, as the minister said, some have already received investments. One has received pledges for a million dollars’ worth of startup capital. And everyone, all 500 of us drew up a plan and took a chance on it, as transcripted by US Department of State.
visited Bali, Indonesia on 21 to 24 July to take part in ASEAN talks and meet foreign ministers from East Asia Summit after travelling to Turkey, Greece and India.
The Secretary of State visit, who was appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, demonstrates the United States’ sustained commitment to enhance their strategic engagement in Southeast Asia and with ASEAN, as stated by State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland.
“Talent is universal, but opportunity is not,” she said. “We can begin to change that if we find ways to unleash people’s potential, help good ideas take root and flourish. Potential entrepreneurs are all around us.”
Hillary Clinton, who was appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, is the President’s chief foreign affairs adviser that carries out the President’s foreign policies through the State Department and the Foreign Service of the United States.
During her four-day visit, she led US delegation to the 18th ASEAN Regional Forum to discuss regional security issues, and delivered keynote speech at the first-ever ASEAN Regional Entrepreneurship Summit (RES) on July 23. The Summit, which was officially hosted by the Ministry of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia,would be a Global Entrepreneurship Program (GEP) in Indonesia’s annual work program to synergize Indonesian and ASEAN prospective entrepreneurs with the US successful entrepreneurs.
The Summit is a follow-on meeting to President Obama’s Summit on Entrepreneurship in April 2010, during which the Secretary launched the State Department’s Global Entrepreneurship Program. GEP in Indonesia was set up to create Angel investor groups in Indonesia, develop stronger mentoring and networking support systems, and celebrate the successful stories of Indonesian innovators.
The event itself was a continuation of Entrepreneurship Delegations (Edel) program held in Jakarta on 19 – 21 July. Both events were fully attended by about 200 entrepreneurs, investors, educators, and government officials from ASEAN nations, US, India and China including 11 Angel Investors and claimed as successful by Global Entrepreneurship Partnership Initiative chair, Chris Kanter and US Department of State GEP Senior Advisor & Director, Steve R. Koltai, as spoken to Bisnis.com.
Sandiaga Uno, one of the Indonesia’s inspirational young entrepreneurs, and one of the RES speakers, said that this 3 days RES meeting yielded more optimum results rather than 2 years inter-countries’ negotiations.
In the run-up to this summit, 500 Indonesians entered their business plan competition, running the gamut from high-tech innovators to more traditional brick-and-mortar entrepreneurs. One of the prizes went to Indomog, an online payment gateway that offers vouchers for internet gainers. Another went to Gojek, which offers a motorcycle, taxi, and delivery service to Jakartans frustrated by traffic gridlock, which sounds very familiar for someone who comes from New York.
Hillary Clinton, who left Bali on the next day to go to Hongkong and China, requested GEP Indonesia to conduct Edel program annually aimed to connect between Indonesian and US entrepreneurs more intensively, added by Chris Kanter.
