The ‘Connecting with Kauffman –  Empowering Youths In Entrepreneurship’ session was presented by GEW Youth Catalyst – Youth Entrepreneurs Malaysia (YEM), GEW Country Host – Warisan Global Sdn. Bhd. and Leaderonomics, which has been a very supportive GEW partner since last year.

The two-hour session brought plenty of insights to representatives of different interest groups concerned with entrepreneurship in Malaysia, from students to education service providers, to larger companies and government agencies.

Event organiser and Co-Founder of YEM Michael Teoh said that Mr. Levin’s presence in Malaysia, representing the global Kauffman Foundation and with his impressive track-record as an entrepreneur, would definitely provide new perspectives and ideas for local Malaysian institutions and government agencies to groom entrepreneurial behaviour and learning among the young.

“We need to benchmark and learn from the experiences and insights of other entrepreneurs and organisations in the world, to better plan and implement strategies that can truly steer our local growth of entrepreneurs, especially the young,” said the 22-year-old entrepreneur.

During the event YEM unveiled the 550 Youth Entrepreneurs Research in Malaysia, in which 550 youths aged 20-29 were surveyed on their interests in entrepreneurship and what factors would have stimulated their involvement with the local business scene. Results showed that a majority of entrepreneurial students in Malaysia had never read any business or entrepreneurial-related course during their studies, but had since embarked on a journey to become entrepreneurs. The survey also revealed that Malaysian youths are more inclined towards launching their businesses in the service sector with retail coming second.

The session was headlined with a panel discussion on the topic of ‘Empowering Youths In Entrepreneurship’ where panellists commented on strategies for encouraging young Malaysians to be more enterprising. The session featured Mr. Roshan Thiran, CEO of Leaderonomics, Sabrie Salleh, a young Malaysian aspiring entrepreneur, GEW Malaysia Country Host Mr. Dash Balakrishnan, Michael Teoh, Co-Founder of YEM, Mr. Michael Levin, Representative from the Kauffman Foundation. It was moderated by Daniel Cerventus, Founder of online entrepreneur media outlet – Entrepreneurs.my.

Mr. Levin sharing his thoughts about the Kauffman Foundation’s contributions to assisting young entrepreneurs develop their businesses around the world. Mr. Dash Balakrishnan, as GEW Malaysia Host, also commented on how entrepreneurship can be encouraged among the youth to make them more independent and street-smart with money.

The ‘Connecting with Kauffman –  Empowering Youths In Entrepreneurship’ event also provided a valuable networking platform for youth leaders from public and private higher learning institutions to network with the panellists and invites guests at the event.

“Our main objective was to engage higher learning institutions and youth leaders towards the best practices set by the Kauffman Foundation and our own Malaysian GEW representatives, in order to not only inspire them to take entrepreneurship seriously, but also to build their relationships with key international organisations in the field,” commented Michael Teoh.

Global Entrepreneurship Week Malaysia got off to a flying start in Kuala Lumpa on Monday, hosted by Pulse Group PLC and Warisan Global, the Malaysian country host for GEW in Malaysia. The launch was officiated by Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah, Deputy Minister of Higher Education and patron of GEW 2009 Malaysia, and Mr. Michael Levin, Entrepreneur-in-Residence from the Kauffman Foundation of Entrepreneurship.

Themed “Taking the Local Global”, the Week will see students, educators, entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees, non-profit leaders and government officials participate in a host of activities that include virtual and face-to-face events, large-scale competitions and intimate networking gatherings, all aimed at further developing entrepreneurship in Malaysia.

“The world knows that entrepreneurship is the key to economic recovery, and the next generation of innovators holds that key,” said Michael Levin, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Kauffman Foundation. “Now more than ever, we need to unleash the creativity and ingenuity of our youth by engaging them in the endless possibilities of entrepreneurship.”

Warisan Global, a project management company which brings together the government, community and corporations in designing, developing and executing programs with social impact, is joined by Pulse Group PLC, a research process outsourcing group listed on the London “PLUS” exchange, to Unleash the Week in Malaysia and supported by Microsoft.

“As the Malaysian Country Host of GEW 2009 we are very thankful for our government which has put so much thought and support into raising up world-class entrepreneurs in Malaysia,” said Dash, CEO of Warisan Global. “In Malaysia alone, GEW 2009 has surpassed GEW 2008. The overwhelming response by all partners and support received has positioned Malaysia as the third most active country in the world and the most active country in Asia! In 2008, we were in the top 5 countries and also No.1 in Asia.”

Speaking at the launch about his personal experience as an entrepreneur, Bob Chua, CEO of Pulse Group PLC, said “We realize the incredible value that a campaign such as GEW offers to entrepreneurs of all levels and that is why we are proud to have the opportunity to support GEW and help raise the level of entrepreneurship in the country. If only I had the same kinds of opportunities back then, it would have made my entrepreneurial journey much smoother.”

At the event, Warisan Global also announced the launch of the FastTrac program in Malaysia, marking the first time the program is being hosted outside the United States. Developed by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the largest US-based organisation solely focused on entrepreneurial success, FastTrac programs help entrepreneurs to hone the skills needed to create, manage and grow successful businesses, while connecting and building an entire entrepreneurial community using a practical, hands-on approach.

In conjunction with the launch of FastTrac, Warisan Global, the exclusive licensee for the FastTrac suite of programs in Malaysia, also announced their strategic partnership between FastTrac Tech Venture and Microsoft WebsiteSpark. The partnership will enable participants of FastTrac Tech Venture to be automatically eligible for the Microsoft WebsiteSpark program, which provides web professionals with Microsoft software and solutions, support and training opportunities, as well as helping to drive new business opportunities through connections with partners and customers around the world.

“The product, technical support and service offerings that are part of the WebsiteSpark program will help web professionals succeed by taking all the extraneous things off their plate so they can be absolutely focus on what they do best. It puts everything in one place where they can easily access tools and resources, no more running around, no more headaches,” said Peter Tam, Director of Local Software Innovation at Microsoft Malaysia.