KUCHING: It is essential for businesses to cooperate, regardless of race, because leadership and winners in today’s world will only be led by the best person, and not by any racial preferences.
With innovation and the desire to succeed as the necessary elements needed for future business leaders, neither race, religion, caste nor creed will ever be a factor again.
This was the message from Head of State Tun Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud in his speech when he launched “The Space”, the second avatar of iCube Innovation Sdn Bhd’s event spaces that facilitates the growth of entrepreneurs and start-ups in Sarawak.
“The Chinese will still govern the business segments in Sarawak because as a community, they have taken it upon themselves to be of service in the business arena over the past 100 years and were willing to undergo all the hardships to dominate the business sector,” he noted.
He pointed out that the community had adopted to all the challenges that came their way and because of that and the very culture imbedded in them by their family over generations, they would continue to dominate the business arena, especially in the traditional fields.
“Chinese businessmen in Sarawak were the leaders of the industries such as timber and construction and over the years we have seen the entry of Bumiputera businessmen as well and now we see also those Bumiputera businesses thriving with the help and cooperation of the Chinese.”
Taib congratulated iCube for their efforts to create this new business space to help more new businesses have a platform to start and grow their businesses through networking and sharing.
Established in May 2015, iCube Innovation Sdn Bhd (iCube) is an innovative business incubation centre made for Sarawak’s young entrepreneurs to thrive in the digital economy.
It was officially launched on August 10, 2015 by Taib, and is the first and largest facility of its kind in East Malaysia with the dynamic co-working space enlarged now to 12,000 sq ft and housing up to 35 SMEs.
The innovation hub is created and designed to support and facilitate the needs of start-ups through co-incubation and collaborations.
At the opening, chairman Dato Patrick Liew recounted the establishment’s journey in the past four years that aimed at bridging the gap between entrepreneurs, private sectors and government bodies.
Multiple partnerships have since been formed between iCube with both government bodies and corporate sectors working towards developing more entrepreneurs in Sarawak.
To ensure that Sarawak is not left out in the global network and start-up ecosystem, iCube also builds relationships with co-working spaces around the world to exchange ideas and learn from one another.
As of today, iCube is connected with more than 80 co-working spaces in 106 locations across the Asia Pacific, including Australia and New Zealand. As a start-up ecosystem builder in Sarawak, multiple community events have been organised and facilitated.
In 2018, iCube organised more than 10 Google Business Group (GBG) events and is one of the most active facilitators with five TechStars Start-up Weekend organised within a year in different cities/towns in Sarawak.
Businesses interested can make an appointment to visit iCube Innovation by contacting the management at 082-266 868 / 012-896 8684 or email admin@icubeinnovation.com.my
