South-South Entrepreneurship Academy: Beauty in Mind & Actions for Sustainable Business, 27-28 November 2021

By October 21, 2021 October 21, 2021 Events

South-South Entrepreneurship Academy:

Building Global Citizenship and Harnessing Entrepreneurial Skills and Mindset through South-South Cooperation

“Beauty in Mind and Actions for Sustainable Business”

When: Online Training: 27 and 28 November 2021, 1:00 PM (Bangkok Time) | Business Plan Competition: 11 December 2021

The United Nations Office for South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC), the Centre for Business/Social Sustainability and Innovations (BSSI) of Gratia Business School of Gratia Christian College, with support from the Government of Hong Kong SAR (Cyberport and Youth Square), UNESCO Hong Kong Association and the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO) are jointly organizing an online training and a business plan competition under the South-South Entrepreneurship Academy. The theme of the event is “Building Global Citizenship and Harnessing Entrepreneurial Skills and Mindset through South-South Cooperation – Beauty in Mind and Actions for Sustainable Business”

Background

Beauty is a booming and diverse industry. The use of beauty products and cosmetics can be traced back to 4,000 B.C. when ancient Egyptians used kohls (kajal or kajol) to create dramatic Cleopatra eyes. Today the worldwide beauty industry is huge, an estimated $511B in 2021 — and with an annual compounded growth rate of 4.75 per cent worldwide — it’s predicted to exceed $716B by 2025. By geography, Asia Pacific dominates; accounting for more than 46 per cent of the total market.[1]

When COVID-19 hit the world in 2020, like every other industry, the beauty industry saw an initial drop with approximately 30 per cent of the beauty market shut down and some of the businesses will never re-open. However the industry has shown resilience by slowly getting back on its feet and is now evolving and embracing the new trends brought by the pandemic. Trends in consumer preferences such as organic, sustainable and ecological products, and a rise in digitalization (in e-commerce) due to COVID-19 lockdowns and marketing through social media such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok.[2] Studies have shown that 63 per cent of beauty product buyers trust brands that they find on Instagram and 52 per cent of beauty product shoppers say they are more likely to be interested in a beauty product if they see ads for it on Facebook.

Recently, sustainability of the beauty industry has increasingly received growing interest from consumers and companies. With sustainability impacts occurring through all phases of a cosmetic product life cycle, there’s a great push for products that are not only safe for people but also for the planet; sourcing organic raw materials, using environmentally-friendly formulations, production practices and packaging. In 2020, Shiseido, a Japanese cosmetic company launched its Sustainable Beauty Actions (SBAS) global initiative and stated that “we believe that embracing your inner and outer beauty empowers you, inspires those around you and ultimately leads to a better, more beautiful world. We strive to ensure the sustainability of such a world through our innovations.”[3] Part of this initiative is their contribution towards SDG 14 through their Blue Project on ocean protection. By developing, innovating, and producing sustainably, beauty companies such as L’Oréal[4] are also able to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.

Objectives

The 2021 second cohort online training will focus on “beauty entrepreneurship”. In particular, the training will help participants to have a head-start in putting together a business plan and to be able to cope with the diverse and evolving industry.

The objectives of the training in the second cohort of 2021 are to explore new possibilities of entrepreneurship in the beauty industry, which will contribute to the attainment of SDG 9; develop sustainable ingredients and technologies through innovation and SDG 3: striving to produce the healthiest and purest beauty products in the market. The training will be led by entrepreneurs in the sector.

Agenda

Day 1 (Saturday, 27 November 2021)

Opening Session

Moderator: Mr. Denis Nkala, UNOSSC Regional Coordinator and Representative for Asia and the Pacific

1. Opening Remarks: Ms. Xiaojun Grace Wang, UNOSSC Deputy Director

2. Welcoming Remarks:

  • Hong Kong SAR Government Representative (TBC)
  • Mr. George Lam, Chairperson, Cyberport (TBC)
  • Mr. Chui Hong Sheung, President, Gratia Christian College
  • Mr. Gary Fan, Assistant General Manager, Representative Youth Square (TBC)
  • Mr. Howard Politini, Board Member, Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation

Session 1: Inclusive Entrepreneurial Mindset and South-South Cooperation

Session objectives:

  • To foster a mindset for positive social value creation
  • To stress the importance on South-South Cooperation and knowledge and experience sharing
  • To introduce business continuity and business design thinking

1. South-South Cooperation: Mutual Learning for Better Practices: Results of Survey of 2020 and 2021 cohort participants and overview of South-South and triangular cooperation

  • Mr. Denis Nkala, UNOSSC Regional Coordinator and Representative for Asia-Pacific

2. Design Thinking in Product and Business Development

  • Ms. Shirley Mo Ching Yeung, Head of School of Business/Associate Professor at Gratia Christian College

3. Business Plan, Pitching and Fundraising

  • Ms. Ines Gafsi, Co–founder Women Partners Entrepreneurship Network (TBC)

4. Contents of Peace and Entrepreneurship

  • Mrs. Mitze Leung, Co-founder, UNESCO Hong Kong Association Glocal Peace Center (TBC)

Session 2: Global Citizenship

Session objective:

  • To inspire participants with innovative ideas and practices in the industry

1. Embracing self-wellbeing and nature

  •  Ms. Gaëtane Austin, Pure Fiji (TBC)

2. Social entrepreneurship and inclusion

  • Mr. Tony Ip, Green Architects (TBC)

3. SME Innovation and Entrepreneurship

  • Mr. Sidney Tang, Qoolmate X(TBC)

Day 2 (Sunday, 28 November 2021)

Session 3:  Product and Business Development- Beauty Industry

Session objectives:

  • To equip participants with hands‐on knowledge and skills of product design and business plan development
  • To share success experiences and lessons learnt in the beauty industry from entrepreneurs, especially from the Southern countries

1. Trends and Opportunities in the Beauty Industry

  • Mr. Pushkaraj Shenai, CEO of Lakmé Lever Pvt. Ltd (Lakmé Lever) (TBC) – Overview of the beauty industry (trends and opportunities)
  • Mr. Pramote Dechaboonsiripanich, Managing Director, Panpuri Thailand (TBC)

2.Beauty Redefined via Perspective of SDGs

Moderator: Ms. Pansy Ho, UNWTO Tourism Ambassador (TBC)

  • Mr. Sarah Knibbs, Deputy Regional Director, UN Women (TBC)
  • Ms. Payaliah Shah, Woman Entrepreneur (TBC)
  • Ms. Lufilufi Rasmussen, Misiluki Skincare, Samoa (TBC)
  • Ms. Puspita Martha, International Beauty School, Indonesia (TBC)

3. Responsible Sourcing of Organic and Sustainable Beauty Products 

  • Mr. Rex Choi, President, JCI(TBC)
  • Ms. Kelly Inae, PNG Mountain Honey (TBC)
  • Ms. Geeta Prakash, co-founder, Parama Naturals (TBC)
  • Shwe Pyi Nan, Thanaka Industry, Myanmar (TBC)

4. The Expansion of Beauty Industry through Digital Marketing

  • Parfumerie Tiki, Papeete, Tahiti (TBC)
  • NolaHour Cosmetics, DEPACK Korea (TBC)
  • Lynu Summer, LEWA Collection, PNG (TBC)
  • Ms. Vaishali Gupta, Co-founder and Head Brand Marketing, Mcaffeine (TBC)

5. Seed Funding and Capacity Building

  • Ms. Esther Bates, Pacific Green Entrepreneurship Network, GGGI

6. Wrap-up session and preparations for business plan competition


Business Plan Competition (Saturday, 11 December 2021)

1. Session 4:  Group Presentation/Business Plan Competition

  • More details to be confirmed soon.

[1] Roberts, R. 2021. 2021 Beauty Industry Trends & Cosmetics Marketing: Statistics and Strategies for Your Ecommerce Growth. Common Thread Collective.

[2] Das, S. 2021. Emerging Trends in Beauty Industry in 2021.Aranca.

[3] Tan-Gillies, H. 2020. Shiseido launches Sustainable Beauty Actions campaign. The Moodie Davitt Report.

[4] LÓREAL. 2020. L’Oréal’s Contribution to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals