Two Filipino university students won the Best of the Best award and a Business Development Fund of HK$100,000 in the regional competition for the HSBC Young Entrepreneur Awards 2008-2009.
Timothy Huelva and Karl Satinitigan of Ateneo de Manila University won the top honor in the annual competition for creating an all-natural food disposal container made from coconut spathes. Areka! Leaf Plate is an eco-iconic project that is a useful alternative to plastic and Styrofoam containers.
The team from the Chinese University of Hong Kong was the first runner-up and won the Diamond Award with NuBurger, which was made by using alginate to replace the traditional burger’s fat content.
More than 2,400 university students from six Asian countries and territories—including the Philippines, Thailand, Brunei, Bangladesh, Malaysia and host Hong Kong—formed 902 teams and took part in local competitions. The gold award team from each area made a formal business plan presentation to judges at HSBC’s Asia-Pacific headquarters in the regional final.
Sandy Flockhart, chief executive of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Limited, says the HSBC Young Entrepreneur Awards program demonstrates the bank’s ongoing commitment to education and its investment in nurturing future leaders in the region.
“Since its inception, the program has attracted more than 16,000 students comprising some 6,300 teams around Asia. In addition to promoting entrepreneurship, the competition provides students the opportunity to acquire practical knowledge such as business planning and presentation skills,” Flockhart says.
The HSBC Young Entrepreneur Awards aims to encourage undergraduate students to develop innovative and commercially viable business plans. Since the first awards in Hong Kong in 2000, the program has been launched in Bangladesh, Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand.
Every year, HSBC invites eminent business leaders to judge the competition. This year’s panel, chaired by Flockhart, included Laura Cha, deputy chairman of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corp. Limited; Po Chung, co-founder and chairman emeritus Asia Pacific, DHL Express (Hong Kong) Ltd.; Allen Fung, managing director and partner, McKinsey and Company Hong Kong; and Frank Slevin, managing director, head of global banking, HSBC Asia-Pacific. –Dinna Chan Vasquez, Manila Standard Today
June 2025
Philippine Environment Month!
“Action for Nature, for the Future!”
Invoke Article 33 of the ILO Constitution
against the military junta in Myanmar
to carry out the 2021 ILO Commission of Inquiry recommendations
against serious violations of
Forced Labour and Freedom of Association protocols.
Accept National Unity Government (NUG)
of Myanmar. Reject Military!
#WearMask #WashHands #Distancing #TakePicturesVideosturesVideos
Monthly Observances:
1 Jun – World Day of Parents
5 Jun – World Environment Day
7 Jun – World Food Safety Day
8 Jun – World Oceans Day
12 Jun – World Day Against Child Labour
15 Jun – World Elder Abuse Awareness Day
16 Jun – International Day of Family Remittances
17 Jun – World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought
20 Jun – World Refugee Day
25 Jun – Day of the Seafarer
27 Jun – Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Day
Daily Observances:
June 6: Migrant Workers Day
June 19: Filipino Youth Day
June 25: Day of the Filipino Seafarer
