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354784
Wed, 01/21/2015 - 10:30
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New Association To Connect Young Malaysian Entrepreneurs With Their Asean Counterparts

By S. Kisho Kumari KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia, which is chairing the 26th Asean Summit on April 26 and 27 this year, intends to play a pivotal role in capitalising on the small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region to promote intra-Asean market connectivity and trade. For a start, the government has formed the Malaysian Association of Asean Young Entrepreneurs (MAAYE), with its main objective being to connect young Malaysian entrepreneurs with their Asean counterparts through official and regulated channels and to promote business skills, services and innovation. MAAYE was launched on Jan 8 by International Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed during the first Asean Malaysia Young Entrepreneurs Forum, here. The forum was organised by the Asean Business Advisory Council Malaysia (Asean-BAC Malaysia) and supported by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI). In a press statement, MAAYE said it was the first such association in Malaysia and that it was set up to break the connectivity boundaries and barriers for the Asean youth economic integration and development of innovative markets. "The association will form a proactive, positive, reliable and hardworking committee to promote Malaysia as the one-stop centre for budding young entrepreneurs," it added. Speaking at the recent forum, Asean Young Entrepreneurs, Asean-BAC Malaysia, representative Rajasekaran Teagarajan said as the regional economy continued to integrate, entrepreneurship and innovation were the key elements to capitalise on from the growing business opportunities offered by the burgeoning market. STRENGTHENING THE MSME SECTOR "Connectivity through MAAYE will contribute significantly to strengthening the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector, the primary economic driver for the Asean Economic Community (AEC)," he said. Rajasekaran said regional awareness and access to markets were crucial in order to boost intra-Asean trade, which currently stands at only 24 percent of total trade recorded in the region. "This is where MAAYE will come in... to enhance the intra-Asean market connectivity and become a single voice that will reflect the collective and unified agenda driven by integration." MITI Secretary-General Dr Rebecca Fatima Sta Maria said among the priorities for this year would be the development of Asean SMEs. We will have a huge Asean SME forum and showcase, with SME Corp Malaysia and agencies under MITI leading the process. We are also looking at intra-Asean trade, and removing barriers to trade and investment to increase the percentage of intra-Asean trade," she told the forum. Asean-BAC Chairman Dr Munir Majid said in realising that youth have an important role to play in providing visible solutions, they were also an important contributor to the future of the economy as producers, professionals and consumers. "Since close to 60 percent of the Asean population is made up of young people, it reflects a huge consumer market. "The young particularly want lifestyle things, tourism things, so (it is) not only a huge market but a young market. A great opportunity is being thrown out by the whole process... it is the future that you all will enjoy," he told the forum participants. (Despite its sizeable population of 626 million, the Asean regional median age is only 27, with close to 60 percent or 370 million people below the age of 40.) CHALLENGES AND BARRIERS FACED BY YOUNG ENTREPRENEURS Touching on the challenges faced by the SMEs, Munir said many of them face challenges in terms of access to finance, and use of technology and information management, which were interrelated to each other. "For example, they can't gain access to information if they can't afford to have the technology. Information access is related to technology too... if you have technology, you have greater access to information and management standards which you must organise in a modern way to continue to grow," he added. Meanwhile, Asean-BAC Singapore Council Member, Douglas Foo, pointed out that barriers should not stop from people from becoming entrepreneurs. "They must find the right ingredient, I mean the skill... it has nothing to do with technology, nothing to do with barriers. It has got to do with the mindset," he told the forum. Leaderonomics Sdn Bhd founder, Roshan Thiran, urged the younger generation to be bold enough to try new things. "For the young people to learn, they have to go through some painful experiences so that they can grow and when the time comes, they can see the bigger opportunities... and they will be able to do the right things too," he said. He hoped MAAYE would be able to provide more networking space for young entrepreneurs to enable them to learn and grow. -- BERNAMA

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