October

15th October

Local entrepreneurs gain brilliant business ideas

Local entrepreneurs were enlightened and gained new winning strategies to make their business more successful after they listened to successful business stories by foreign entrepreneurs and prominent business figures during a Brilliant Business Ideas conference organised by Asia Inc yesterday at Sheraton Utama Hotel. Two foreign entrepreneurs who attended the conference as panelist were Singaporean Nanz Chong Komo, the founder of One.99 shop and Indonesian Hermawan Kartajaya, the founder and President of the number one consulting firm in Indonesia, MarkPlus & Co. The one-day conference comprised six sessions. In the 1st session, the moderator, the Executive Chairman of Asia Inc, Timothy Ong, shared his personal stories in facing the challenges of the business world. He described entrepreneurs as people who turn their dreams into reality; he further emphasised on the importance of executing business ideas in the era of globalisation, for a successful business depends on how it is being executed. He said the biggest teachers in life are failures and society needs to accept failures for valuable lessons are learnt from them.

Dato Paduka Hj Hamdillah Hj Abd Wahab, the Chief Executive Officer of Brunei LNG, was the moderator for the 2nd session while local entrepreneurs Mohd Shu'if Hussain, the Managing Director of eSuria Mentari Systems Sdn Bhd, and Violet Lim, the General Manager of Aryaduta Building Maintenance Services Sdn Bhd were among the panelists for the session. The third session, a presentation on how to turn ideas into a winner and how to create a winning strategy for it, was delivered by Dr Damien Power, a MBA lecturer at the Department of Management, Monash University, Australia. The moderator was Saifulbahri Pehin Dato Hj Jaya, the Deputy Managing Director of DST Group. John Perry, the CEO of Brunei Economic Development Board, was the moderator for the fourth session which focused on discussion of hard won lessons and how to manage risks. A local entrepreneur, Lisa Dato Paduka Hj Ibrahim, the proprietor of LILS Management Services was one of the panelist.

'How to take family business to new heights? What are issues and how they can be overcomed' were the main topics for the fifth session with Timothy Ong as the moderator and the panelists were Musa Hj Adinin, the Managing Director of Adinin Group, Tan Keng Soon, the General Manager of New Island Shipping and Trading Company, and Gwendolyn Lee, the Business Development Manager of RICO Agencies. Sharon Tan, the Relationship Manager of Corporate Banking, HSBC, Albert Tan, the Managing Director of Great Future Sdn Bhd, and BC Yong, the CEO and Chairman of International Brunei Exchange Ltd, were the panelists for the final session while Hj Shazali Sulaiman, Partner of KPMG, was the moderator. The session concentrated on how to get ideas into the market by employing practical strategies on finance, finding support and developing business plans. The Participants of Brilliant Business Ideas conference were given the opportunity to build network amongst themselves and they shared ideas and received practical advice as well as feedback during the various sessions. The sponsors were DST Group, HSBC, Brunei Shell Petroleum, and Brunei LNG. The conference was also supported by Monash University, Borneo Bulletin, Live Wire Brunei and Young Entrepreneurs Association Brunei.