| Danial Norjidi |
THE Young Entrepreneurs Association of Brunei (YEAB) places importance on providing value to entrepreneurs as an association through its network, and supporting the growth of entrepreneurship.
This was shared by President of YEAB Nurliyana Fatin binti Arifin during a recent interview with the Bulletin.
She said that the association works to advise and provide feedback on how to improve and have a more conducive ecosystem, towards the growth of entrepreneurship.
“We’re actively getting feedback and input from our young entrepreneurs on what needs to be changed, and it gets fed back into the right channels.”
She highlighted that the YEAB also prioritises the exchange of knowledge. “We engage with our members who are part of these networks to gain insight on what is important in the region and what young entrepreneurs are talking about.
“So I think that’s very important for us – that exchange of knowledge and understanding where the entrepreneurs are headed regionally and what’s important to them. Eventually trends come over to Brunei as well, but it’s how fast we can actually adapt.”
She also spoke about YEAB INSIGHT with regard to the activities they conduct, which was created from the opportunity to provide access to its members to understand the economy.
Fatin shared that the format of INSIGHT allows for dialogue with leaders from business, industry and government about the direction of the economy, and what businesses need to know.
One of YEAB’s activity is its mentorship platform, OpenChat. “It’s a mentorship platform to engage with young people, because part of our aspiration is to build the entrepreneurship spirit. That has been something core to YEAB since its founding. We wanted to be able to engage with young people who aspire to be entrepreneurs but don’t know what to expect in entrepreneurship.”
The association also conducts talks and programmes at educational institutions.
She also said that YEAB has a number of regional networks and noted the formation of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council (AYEC), which YEAB is a founding member of. “In the past, our committee members and our presidents have established networks across ASEAN.
“The idea is to establish a regional network in the form of a council of young entrepreneurs, where only the leading young entrepreneur organisations get to sit on the council. From the council, we also created the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Association (AYEA).
“Through the AYEC and our ASEAN network, there are numerous opportunities to work together bilaterally in exposing our entrepreneurs through attending forums and summits.”
On a global level, the YEAB is also part of the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs (CAYE) network.
“One of the things we’ve discussed about is how to ensure that our young entrepreneurs and members can benefit being part of a global network.
“Brunei needs entrepreneurs who are able to export and do business internationally,” she added.
The announcement of YEAB’s new Executive Committee (ExCo) for the year 2018 to 2020 was made during the association’s 14th Annual General Meeting in April.
The announcement saw Nurliyana Fatin appointed as the new President of the YEAB.
She is joined on the executive committee by Vice President Kaewan Tan; Secretary Felicia Cheong; Vice Secretary King Seh Horng; Treasurer Jennifer Tan; Vice Treasurer Zulfadhly Tom; Public Relations and Membership Louis Loo; and Social Media and Events Hajah Mona.