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NextGen, SME Malaysia To Prepare Young Entrepreneurs For ASEAN Market

[ 24-11-2015 ]
NextGen, SME Malaysia To Prepare Young Entrepreneurs For ASEAN Market
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- Next Generation Movement (NextGen) will collaborate with the SME Association of Malaysia (SME Malaysia) to enhance the capabilities of young entrepreneurs in order to take advantage of ASEAN's integrated market from Jan 1, next year.

SME Malaysia National President Michael Kang said this would ensure that young entrepreneurs to benefit from the enlarged ASEAN Economic Community's market of over 600 million people from next year.

"We want to prepare young entrepreneurs by changing their mindset to encourage them to penetrate the international market and not only the domestic market of 30 million people.

"We are well positioned to capture the regional market as we are number two after Singapore," he told a press conference after signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NextGen here Tuesday.

Kang said if the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA) were signed in February next year and enforced in 2018, it would provide more market opportunities for businesses.

As the bigger market will also pose stiffer competition, local entrepreneurs need to intensify efforts in capacity building in order to meet the challenges, he added.

He said these measures were imperative if the SMEs were to achieve the target of increasing their exports to 25 per cent and gross domestic product contribution of 41 per cent by 2020.

Meanwhile, NextGen President Mohamed Hassan KB Hamzah said the strategies lined up under the MoU would focus on market access, innovation and technology adoption, human capital development, and access to finance.

"We plan to enhance the companies and their product image through award recognition, train them to comply with international standards and match them with interested angel investors.

"We will also go to rural areas to enlighten entrepreneurs there on ASEAN and prepare them for the international market," he added.

-- BERNAMA