| Danial Norjidi |
FIVE local entrepreneurs were granted start-up funds yesterday under the LiveWIRE Business Awards Start-Up Funding Scheme, a brand new initiative by Brunei Shell Petroleum Company Sdn Bhd (BSP) through LiveWIRE Brunei.
The entrepreneurs are the top winners of the LiveWIRE Brunei Business Awards in the following categories: Category A (Business Plan) – LiveWIRE Programme Participants and Category B (Enterprise) – LiveWIRE Business Start-Up (six months to three years in business).
The winners are awarded for the feasibility and future potential of the business for Category A, and sustainability, good governance and growth potential for Category B.
The announcement of the winners was made at the LiveWIRE Brunei Business Awards Start-Up Funding Scheme event.
Attending the event as the guest of honour was Minister of Energy and Industry Dato Seri Setia Dr Awang Haji Mat Suny bin Haji Mohd Hussein.
Also in attendance were Permanent Secretary (Energy and Industry) at the Ministry of Energy and Industry (MEI) Haji Mohamad Azmi bin Haji Mohd Hanifah, Permanent Secretary (Manpower and SHENA) at the MEI Haji Kamaludin bin Haji Bungsu, Deputy Permanent Secretary (Power, IT & E-Government) at the MEI Pengiran Jamra Weira bin Pengiran Haji Petra, Managing Director of BSP Dr Ceri M Powell, Managing Director and CEO of Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) Mubashar Khokhar, and CEO of DARe (Darussalam Enterprise) Javed Ahmad.
The five winners of the first LiveWIRE Brunei Business Award Scheme Funding Scheme are Hazeeyah Agro Farm, a business that prepares quality salted eggs; Santaiaje Niaga Enterprise, a bicycle rental business; Pondok Selera Kitani, a takeaway food shop; Al-Huffaz Management, a platform for Islamic religious-based services; and a car wash business called Roy’s Car Wash.
The start-up grants they each received are as follows: Hazeeyah Agro Farm BND50,000; Santaiaje Niaga Enterprise BND45,000; Pondok Selera Kitani BND30,000; Al-Huffaz Management BND20,000 and Roy’s Car Wash BND10,000.
To further manage these grants, LiveWIRE Brunei is collaborating with the appointed bank, Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD), which will provide assistance with depositing the grant and monitoring the recipients’ account. The collaboration was officially marked with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between LiveWIRE Brunei and BIBD.
Signing the MoU for LiveWIRE Brunei were In-Country Value Manager of BSP as Chairperson of LiveWIRE Brunei Hajah Rosita binti Haji Hassan and LiveWIRE
Brunei Programme Director Pengiran Redzuan bin Pengiran Haji Abbas, while the signatories for BIBD were Head of Corporate Banking Division Koh Swam Sing and General Manager of Legal Hajah Saadatun Amanda binti Pehin Orang Kaya Lela Sura Dato Seri Laila Jasa Haji Abas. Witnessing the signing were the Minister of Energy and Industry as well as the Managing Director of BSP.
The next part of the event was the contract signing ceremony between the start-up fund recipients and LiveWIRE Brunei.
Hajah Rosita and Pengiran Redzuan were the signatories for LiveWIRE Brunei. The start-up fund recipients who signed the contracts were: Nur Haziyah binti Abdul Rahman of Hazeeyah Agro Farm; Siti Nooriah binti Haji Muhammad Bokhari of Santaiaje Niaga Enterprise; Addie Fadlie bin Samsudin of Pondok Selera Kitani; Mohammad Loqman Al-Hakim bin Haji Hamdan of Al-Huffaz Management; and Dayangku Nur Hayatul Muta-Wakillah binti Pengiran Raithullah of Roys Car Wash.
The contract signing ceremony was also witnessed by the Minister of Energy and Industry and the Managing Director of BSP.
According to a press statement from LiveWIRE Brunei, future plans have been implemented to extend the scheme to participants of the LiveWIRE Business Plan Series who are able to demonstrate a realistic and feasible plan for the growth of their business.
It is hoped that these special awards will continue to motivate inspiring and talented entrepreneurs to come forward with their bright ideas and become role models for others.
This is also in line with the country’s aspiration to continuously grow and nurture local entrepreneurs and as an impetus for new and existing entrepreneurs to actively participate in Brunei Darussalam’s economic development, the press statement added. The Managing Director of BSP in a speech highlighted that the event marks another significant milestone in BSP’s entrepreneurship programme, noting that for the first time ever, five of Brunei’s best entrepreneurs were being granted with start-up funds under the banner of LiveWIRE Brunei Business Awards.
“This is an interest free grant ranging from as low as BND5,000 to a maximum of BND50,000, payable within 36 months with flexible terms of payment,” she explained. “These funds are to boost and grow their business to the next possible level based on the current performance that these entrepreneurs have demonstrated.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank BIBD for agreeing to be our appointed bank to manage the funds of our recipients,” she added.