‘A tech leader by 2050’
TAKING LEAD: Event puts country on the map as global hub for entrepreneurs
MALAYSIA is taking the lead on an international scale by organising the two-day Global Entrepreneurship Community (GECommunity) 2016 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre tomorrow, said MaGIC chairman Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.
He said the event would put the country on the map as an international hub for entrepreneurs to make their presence felt, both locally and globally, as participants from more than 60 countries would take part.
In the Malaysian context, he said, apart from locals, who would be exposed to the start-up ecosystem, it was also to facilitate the financial sector to venture into new areas and for big companies to cooperate with smaller ones.
“As we draw nearer to 2020, when we aim to become a high-income nation, we have to aim higher and look further into the future. Malaysia aims to be a technology leader by 2050, no more a technology follower or adopter,” he told the New Straits Times on Monday.
When asked why Malaysians continue to be the end-users instead of product creators, Irwan said this was usually due to the unsupportive ecosystem for inventors in the country.
“There are many Malaysian-made products produced by our people. You don’t see their creations because the ecosystem is not supportive, thus, forcing them to go out. Grab is a Malaysian company but the main office is in Singapore, while others have gone to Silicon Valley.
“This is why we are organising GECommunity, and with more events, it will open the mindset that you can progress here and need not go overseas.”
He said he wanted Malaysian organisations and institutions, like MaGIC, to be on a par with Stanford University.
Irwan, who is also Treasury secretary-general, said the event would see the launch of a GECommunity platform and the Cooperate En- trepreneurship Responsibility programme.
The network platform, he said, would allow companies and industry makers to place their profiles and products to attract potential buyers and investors.
Irwan said through networking, negotiations and investment deals were expected to materialise at the event, targetting RM100 million worth of value creation within two days.
GECommunity would see the presence of Malaysia Commercialisation Year 2016, he said, bringing local universities, research institutes and agencies together, and bringing five products each that they had produced. The winner would receive RM250,000.
Irwan described the Cooperate Entrepreneurship Responsibility programme as “the big brother holding the younger brother’s hand”, paving the way for next year’s focus on promoting start-ups, and small-andmedium scale enterprises (SMEs).
GECommunity is a programme under the National Entrepreneurship Development Office and Finance Ministry, Global Entrepreneurship Movement and MaGIC, set to connect entrepreneurs, innovative thinkers and futurists to reimagine the future of entrepreneurship.
There will be nine cluster labs pushing entrepreneurs to collaborate with corporate and industry experts.
They are biotech, creativity, education, finance, smart cities, healthcare, lifestyle, supply chain and social innovation.
The event is open to the public. Speakers include futurist Mike Walsh, social innovator and chief executive officer of The Conversation Farm Jon Duchinsky, celebrity entrepreneur Bill Rancic, KFIT founder Joel Neoh, chairman of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies Bibop Gresta, Uber chief business officer Emil Michael, and international motivational speaker, author and educationist Dr Pawan Agrawal.