The Young Entrepreneurs Association of Brunei (YEAB) have signed an agreement with Progresif Cellular to collaborate in hosting networking, mentorship and upskilling activities for Bruneian entrepreneurs.
President of YEAB Fatin Arifin yesterday said that Progresif would be providing sponsorship and industry expertise for the association’s activities which typically focus on knowledge sharing and networking, with an upskilling initiative currently in development.
“The agreement will enable us to establish mentors from Progresif which we can connect to our events and members, and hopefully utilize their innovative platforms (including their radio and magazine) to help bring entrepreneurship to a wider audience as well,” said Fatin at the third edition YEAB’s flagship networking event Insight held at Radisson Hotel.
Progresif CEO Paul Taylor said the agreement with YEAB was part of the telco’s ongoing commitment to developing entrepreneurship in Brunei, which now includes housing an incubation space called Startup Lab at their headquarters in Gadong.
“Entrepreneurship is one of Progresif’s four pillars of social responsibility which also include education, arts and culture and environment,” said Taylor.
“To date, we’ve collaborated with different entrepreneurs to host events, promoted entrepreneurship through our radio and magazine and are now hosting three promising startups within our building. We’ve also worked strategically with agencies like Darussalam Enterprise over their bootcamp programmes, and we hope to do more for entrepreneurship with our latest collaboration with YEAB.”
YEAB’s Insight event yesterday also featured a fireside chat on innovation, with Progresif’s CEO and BIBD’s head of retail banking Hjh Nurul Akmar Hj Mohd Jaafar sharing how their respective companies have gained market share through strategic branding and consistently developing products and services aimed at easing customer convenience.
More than 60 business owners and professionals attending yesterday’s Insight, which focuses on wider economic developments and opportunities within challenging economic times.
Alongside Insight, YEAB said that they were actively hosting smaller events like their monthly Open Chat, where a single entrepreneur is selected to share their milestones and their Mentorship Series which rope in a captain of industry to offer guidance.
YEAB began as gatherings amongst the business community that offered tried and tested advice from entrepreneurs who had real-world experience in navigating the business environment and were privy to the latest business opportunities and reforms.
The association was formally registered in 2000 to support and empower Brunei’s young entrepreneurs with a vision of connecting them to global platforms including the ASEAN Young Entrepreneur Council, the ASEAN China Young Entrepreneur Forum and the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs.
Full membership to the association is open to Bruneian business owners between 18 to 45-yers-old, but YEAB also has tiered memberships to accommodate students and people interested in learning about business.
Visit www.yeabrunei.com to learn more, and follow @yeabrunei on Instagram for the latest updates. To join, fill out YEAB’s membership application form.
