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Varsity promises grant for young entrepreneurs

People working in the shipping field seeking to branch out on their own could benefit from a Dh200,000 grant if their business idea is good enough.

Dr J Ramachandran, president of AMET University — India’s first maritime university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu — announced to the 70 alumni gathered at the inaugural AMET Alumni Association (A3) – UAE meeting in Dubai late last month that he was ready to invest about Dh200,000 for an AMET alumnus wanting to be a young entrepreneur.

Ramachandran said he wanted to see that graduates were not only employed by big companies, but were also able to sometimes go out on their own to create a new company to further develop the industry.

Often there were people with great ideas, but no one to fund them, he said.

“Some of my talented former students are doing very well in their profession and have gone to work for big employers. But if they’re given support they can try to have their own big business empire, and they can also promote or employ many other people.”

He said he was looking for an AMET graduate, with some experience and plenty of enthusiasm, who was willing to be guided by other people and had a brilliant idea for a viable business model.

AMET University offers programmes such as BE Marine Engineering, BSC Nautical Science, BE Naval Architecture, MBA Shipping and Logistics Management, and more than 100 qualified professionals from the university are employed in the UAE.

AMET University Professor Emeritus Captain S Bhardwaj said the inaugural meeting provided an arena for qualified shipping professionals to share knowledge to contribute to the industry’s needs, and was a great way for expats to connect. It was important to help new graduates develop, and encourage more to study, as there was still a scarcity of qualified professionals in the shipping industry, he said.

sarah@khaleejtimes.com