Blue Ocean Entrepreneurs Town ready Feb ‘17
KUCHING: The country’s first Blue Ocean Entrepreneurs Town ( BOET) is 80 per cent completed and is expected to be fully operational in February next year.
State Secretary Tan Sri Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani said the BOET at Jalan Semangat in Bintawa here would be a artistic and cultural hub for young, innovative and creative entrepreneurs to interact.
“It is a place catered for them where they can express themselves fully in terms of their innovation and creativity. It will also be a place where budding entrepreneurs can meet, exchange ideas and experience from each other to become better businessmen.
“We hope that through this kind of setting, there will be more young businessmen coming up from among Sarawakians,” said Moshidi, who is the project coordinator. He did not dismiss the possibility of setting up more of such centres if the Bintawa centre proved to be successful and vibrant.
The RM20- million project is federal funded and initiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when he visited Kuching in April.
Calling the site Borneo 744, Najib said the Kuching BOET would be
It is a place catered for them where they can express themselves fully in terms of their innovation and creativity. It will also be a place where budding entrepreneurs can meet, exchange ideas and experience from each other to become better businessmen. Tan Sri Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani, State Secretary
the starting point for many other towns nationwide.
He said the venue was meant to encourage collaboration and networking among young people; for them to learn how to run their business, experiment with new products, obtain guidance and get start-up capital.
During the visit where he launched Gathering of Rising Entrepreneurs, Act Together (Great) 2016 at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, he ( Najib) had said he hoped to see the venue being ready soon. A memorandum of understanding ( MOU) was signed between the Finance Ministry and Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) with Najib as the witness in mid June.
During the signing ceremony, Treasury secretary- general Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, said according to the agreement, the Borneo744 project would be completed by yearend. The project involves the refurbishment of a 10-hectare old Public Works Department (JKR) warehouse into a vibrant and attractive township dedicated for the young entrepreneurs.
Instead of putting up new buildings, the plan is to renovate and refurbish JKR existing old buildings into a conducive and artistic hub where young entrepreneurs can mingle.
As there is no construction of new building, minimal cost is involved but the project has progressed with great impact and speed.