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Pro-poor entrepreneurial businesses through education & business development initiatives for LVT Graduates in Mon and Kayin states

This project is funded by Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and Swisscontact. The project was launched in January 2017 in Mon and Kayin states.

Over the 12 months program;
– 36 classes were opened in 11 townships
– 588 people enrolled in the program. 554 learners/entrepreneurs completed the Cycle 1- Understanding of the different elements of the business
– 393 of these learner entrepreneurs received Mentoring and Enterprise Development Support
– 150 enterprises run by the cohort, of which 71 enterprises were new startups by the participants
– 150 enterprises run by program participants created 300 full-time jobs (including self-employment) and 114 seasonal and part-time jobs in the last twelve months

The goal was to train 500 learners in Mon and Kayin states and support the launch of their start-up business. The learners may consist of 50% LVT graduates and disadvantaged population living in Mon and Kayin states focusing on the following townships.

Sr.No	Townships in Mon State	Townships in Kayin State
1	Moke Ta Ma	Hpa-An
2	Chaungzon	Myawaddy
3	Mudon	Kyainseikgyi
4	Thaton	Hlaingbwe
5	Ye	Thandaung
6	Thanbyuzayat

The duration of the program is seven months and starting with the intensive course on entrepreneurship education (Initiative 1). The intensive entrepreneurship education is a full three-week program where the learners are introduced to the three learning cycles: Cycle 1 (Understanding Different Element of Business) Cycle 2 (Understanding the complexity of Business) Cycle 3 (Applying Learning to your Business). The dynamic discussion between participants and mentors and interviewing entrepreneurs from their community for homework deepens participants understanding of business and inspire them to build own businesses. Towards the end of the intensive course the learners must develop the business plan and deliver the business pitch in class.
The six months on-going enterprise development support (Initiative 2) introduces learners to weekly enterprise development discussions and weekly meetings with their mentors at their workplace or in EDNA facility. Each week a different speaker visits the aspiring entrepreneurs to share their experience. They not only inspire the learners but also in many cases share their networks. The ministry speakers provide assistance and access to respective ministry programs in the region. In addition, the weekly mentoring sessions and organized visits help gather information for the participant’s start-up businesses. The mentors working on this project have 3 to 4 years mentoring experience and having facilitated many start-up enterprises.
At the end of the seven-month program, EDNA Myanmar has reviewed the start-up businesses launched by the participants. The 38 best performing Start Up businesses have received cash prizes to expand their business startup. We welcome you to view the videos of the winners of the Start Up award.