KUALA LUMPUR: Bumiputera technopreneurs can now draw on a pool of global contacts and expertise that will help them expand their businesses internationally.
Members of the 650-strong Persatuan Forum Usahawan ICT Bumiputra Malaysia (NEF) that have ventured abroad will share their contacts with, as well as guide, the other members in the fold of ICT (information and communications technology) companies.
Ashran Ghazi, NEF president, said the organisation has successful companies like Skali Sdn Bhd, Tricubes Bhd, and CWorks Sdn Bhd as members, and that these businesses have experience expanding into overseas markets.
“They have business contacts in various countries, including the Middle East, United States and Hong Kong,” he said at the launch of the NEF’s Globalising Bumiputera Technopreneur programme.
The NEF hopes to draw on that expertise to help its other member companies take their businesses into global markets. “The percentage of our members that have ventured abroad is very small now — less than 5%. We want to increase this,” Ashran said.
Among the steps it is taking to achieve the goal is to kick off its Globalising Bumiputera Technopreneur programme, which will function as a support platform for its members that are ready to take up the challenge.
The programme will help the bumiputera companies pool all their resources to push into overseas markets, especially if they are financially challenged or do not have the confidence to go it alone.
It will also provide a one-stop advisory service with regards to the various types of funding available to technopreneurs headed abroad because many are not aware of these aids.
Portal planned
NEF also plans to channel suitable candidates to the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC) — caretaker of the country’s MSC Malaysia initiative — for funding. Asking the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation for funds is another option.
Under the programme, NEF will set up its TEchnoXchange portal, which will include a directory of products and services by its members, as well as a list of business contacts. The portal will be launched in six months time.
There will also be free, short courses on Internet marketing, software as a service, and other topics conducted at the NEF premises in Damansara Perdana in Petaling Jaya.
The Globalising Bumiputera Technopreneur programme is supported by MDeC.
In a effort to lower expenses for its members that are expanding into the United States, the NEF is negotiating to rent a 2,000sq ft office in the famed Silicon Valley.
Ashran said the office space would better enable 10 ICT companies under its wing to operate in that country and share resources. It hopes to make the office operational from March, next year.
The NEF will select the companies after interested members make their pitches to an evaluation committee and advisory panel comprising representatives from itself, MDeC and the Technopreneurs Association of Malaysia.
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www.nef.org.my
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