M'sia to host first Malaysian entrepreneurship week in October

JAKARTA: Malaysia will host the first Malaysian Entrepreneurship Week in Kuala Lumpur this October, as part of its continuing efforts to support entrepreneurship, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak here today.
The initiative, to be held from Oct 31 to Nov 3, would be a collaboration between the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and, the World Islamic Economic Foundation (WIEF).
The Malaysian Entrepreneurship Week would start with the WIEF IdeaLab on Oct 31 and Nov 1, and continue with the Global Entrepreneurship Community (GECommunity) on Nov 2-3, 2016.
"With rapid market growth throughout Asia, these events aim to facilitate discussions on investment flows and bring together private investors and promising innovative start-ups ... and let's see what sparks can fly from those meetings," said Najib, who is also the Finance Minister, at the soft launch of GECommunity 2016 held on the sidelines of the 12th WIEF.
Present were Tun Musa Hitam, Chairman of the WIEF Foundation, Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim and Treasury Secretary-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah.
The GECommunity event, which is a National Blue Ocean Strategy initiative, aims to be a high-level summit bringing ecosystem leaders, policy makers and community drivers together to reimagine and redesign the future of entrepreneurship.
It will focus on a series of clusters, including biotechnology, food and agriculture, retail and tourism, smart cities, alternative resources, education and finance, media and creative industries, healthcare, and transport and logistics.
"A total of 100 industry leaders, experts and funders will gather in Kuala Lumpur, and it is our hope that this will be the catalyst for truly global partnerships and policies that will bring about real changes, and open up even greater opportunities for entrepreneurs in the economy of the future," he said.
GECommunity will close with the Global Start-up Awards ceremony, where we will celebrate the world's best start-ups, who will have been selected after months of careful curation, screening and judging.
The Malaysian Entrepreneurship Week has, as its ultimate goal, the aim of stimulating economic growth, development, and prosperity by helping to incubate new generations of successful entrepreneurs, and provide further support and stimulation for those who are already active.
Rapidly growing entrepreneurial enterprises are viewed as important sources of innovation, employment and productivity growth.
It is entrepreneurs who frequently come up with the path-breaking ideas that revolutionise our lives, especially when it comes to technology.
"We would like to see entrepreneurship flourish at every level of society and every part of our country.
"(Not only) In the cities and towns but also in the villages and rural areas, empowering women as well as men among all age groups," said Najib.

Meanwhile, GECommunity is a joint-effort between the National Entrepreneurship Development Office under the Ministry of Finance, The Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre and the Global Entrepreneurship Movement. — Bernama