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Cyberjaya, Malaysia – 30 October 2019 – The Entrepreneurial Nation (E-Nation) Symposium, a 4-day entrepreneurship symposium to connect aspiring and existing entrepreneurs, ecosystem influencers and industry leaders with the access and exchange necessary to stimulate and facilitate the spirit of entrepreneurship through creativity, innovation and social impact in Malaysia was officially launched today at the Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) Campus in Cyberjaya.

The launch which was attended by over 500 participants was officiated by YB Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof, Minister of Entrepreneur Development, Malaysia. In his speech, YB Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof shared: “To fulfil our aspirations to make Malaysia an entrepreneurial nation by 2030, it is imperative that we create a dynamic entrepreneurship ecosystem to ensure all segments of the society can benefit from it and explore their potential to be involved. I would like to point out that for us to just embrace the digital transformation, is not enough. It is not enough to just be innovative or have a creative mind. We must also be mindful of the social impact in order for us to ride whatever new disruptive technological advancements that the IR 4.0 wave may bring. Let us together, lay a strong foundation for an entrepreneurial Malaysia.”

Under the theme ‘Shaping an Entrepreneurial Nation’, MaGIC E-Nation aims to paint a canvas of future possibilities by fostering in-depth conversations around emerging technology, fresh entrepreneurial ideas, impact-conscious ventures, industry-specific future challenges and opportunities as well as the collaboration of entrepreneurs in finding new innovative approaches to solve real problems.

Organised by MaGIC, the launch of the symposium featured a keynote on empowering fashion-preneurs of tomorrow delivered by Vivy Sofinas Yusof, co-founder of Fashion Valet and Duck Group. MaGIC also signed 3 separate memorandum of understanding (MoU) between: 1) Citrine Capital on Impact Investment; 2) Genasthim on BCORP; and 3) Heriot Watt University on Entrepreneurship Community Building. The signing of the 3 MoUs is aimed at fostering collaboration between all parties in: 1) creating educational content on the areas of impact investment; 2) sharing best practices on entrepreneurial methods; and 3) cooperating within the areas of creativity, innovation, entrepreneurship as well as Social Entrepreneurship.

Dzuleira Abu Bakar, Chief Executive Officer of MaGIC shared: “As an agency driving the growth and development of an inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem, E-Nation will set the mark to bring together all the relevant stakeholders under one roof over four days for a journey of discovery, connection and partnership to further accelerate the growth of a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem in Malaysia. This will help in fostering greater collaboration between key stakeholders which can lead to a more sustainable ecosystem, opening doors to diversified economic activities and inclusive growth. We see E-Nation becoming an annual and a signature symposium for MaGIC. This way, there is always a follow-through from the active discussions we have ignited in the previous year.”

The symposium is a convening ground for change makers to participate in 8 stimulating keynote sessions and panel discussions featuring over 40 locally and internationally renowned speakers. Confirmed speakers include Dato’ Norman Abdul Halim of KRU Studios, Tristan Ace from British Council, Ariz ‘Caprice’ Ramli of Caprice Technologies, Lehui Liang from Social Ventures Hong Kong, Olivier Legrand from LinkedIn Asia Pacific and more.

E-Nation which will run till 2 November 2019 at the MaGIC Campus in Cyberjaya expects to gather over 2,000 participants and will cut across 6 pillars: 1) creative; 2) corporate innovation; 3) education; 4) entrepreneurship; 5) policy; and 6) social entrepreneurship. The symposium will conclude with an E-Nation fest which will feature a career fair and startup exhibition for entrepreneurs to showcase their innovation driven solutions while recruiting potential job-seeking candidates, PUBG Mobile Tournament, Mobile Legend League Tournament and a Buy for Impact fair.

E-Nation is in line with efforts by the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development (MED) in transforming Malaysia into an entrepreneurial nation by 2030. The E-Nation Symposium has a four-pronged objective: 1) to bridge ecosystem movers, shakers and builders together to facilitate idea exchange, promote collaboration and foster networking opportunities; 2) to highlight recent entrepreneurial initiatives; 3) to gather influential entrepreneurs and speakers to generate and communicate rich knowledge and information to the attendees in areas of social innovation, entrepreneurship education, impact investment; as well as 4) to promote the concept of social innovation and social responsibility to encourage the adoption and understanding of the conscious entrepreneurship concept.

Event partners for E-Nation symposium include British Council, Cyberview, Maxis, Allo, GamesBond, Digital Internet Association Malaysia, Pacific Basin Economic Council, Startup Mamak, Taylors Education Group, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, University Malaya, Beamstart, BFM and Vulcan Post.

Source version: mymagic.my/en/

Telecom infrastructure provider to continue buying towers in existing markets

KUALA LUMPUR (Nikkei Markets) — edotco Group, the telecommunication infrastructure unit of Malaysia’s Axiata Group, is looking to foray into Thailand and Vietnam, while it continues to buy more towers in the markets it already operates, its Chief Executive Officer said.

On an annual basis, edotco acquires 100-to-500 towers, allowing the company to benefit from greater economies of scale and putting its cash pile to better use, Suresh Sidhu told Nikkei Markets. edotco Group may borrow more to fund future acquisitions, if needed, he said.

“We are still actively looking at Thailand and Vietnam but in addition, we are more interested in country consolidation,” he said.

edotco Group operates and manages 29,900 towers across core markets of Malaysia, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. The unit accounted for 7.6% and 8% of Axiata’s group revenue and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization in 2018.

Recently, edotco Group has expanded into the Philippines through an equity partnership with local infrastructure player ISOC Infrastructure. Both companies will invest up to $100 million over the next three-to-five years with a goal of erecting up to 500 towers in the first year of operation.

edotco’s overseas push comes at a time when mobile penetration in Malaysia remains high and broadband users expanding fast. Broadband users in Malaysia has almost doubled over the past five years to reach 39.4 million subscribers last year. By the end of 2018, some 95% of the country’s population were covered by 3G network and nearly 80% enjoyed 4G network.

There is still room for improvement for Malaysia’s communication infrastructure and edotco will focus on last-mile fiberization, Sidhu said, as only 30% of the telecom towers are fiberized. “The number should be 60%-to-70% at least,” he said.

Malaysia has been pushing for so-called fifth generation, or 5G services as the next economic growth driver, which will require hefty investments to expand the use of fiber optic networks. The government is seeking to improve broadband quality and reduce prices under the co-called National Fiberization and Connectivity Plan.

In addition, the government also aims to boost broadband speed and ensure gigabits connections in select industrial areas. By 2025, Malaysia hopes to completely phase out its copper network.

“There are huge opportunities to fiberize these towers” and it would take a year-or-two to do so, Sidhu said. He expects 5G services could be ready to be offered to consumers as soon as by 2020-end before it is widely rolled out through the subsequent years.

Analysts expect edotco to benefit from Malaysia’s 5G push as telco players need to ramp up spending to upgrade infrastructure. edotco’s tower-sharing business also stands to gain as the telecommunication industry looks to cut costs.

“It makes economic sense for telco players to opt for tower-sharing,” said Hong Leong Investment Bank’s Analyst Tan J Young.

Meanwhile, edotco Group has no immediate plan for an initial public offering as the company is currently well-funded, Sidhu said. It could borrow more if needed with the company’s debt to EBITDA ratio currently in the range of 0.8 to 1, he noted.

Last month, Axiata Group decided to scrap a plan to merge with Asian operations of Norway’s Telenor. Since then, Axiata has said it was still seeking merger-and-acquisition opportunities and it may reconsider a listing of edotco.

“If we go for an IPO, it will be for M&A purposes,” Sidhu added.

Axiata shares that have shed 6.25% of their value over the past 12 months ended 0.5% lower at 4.33 ringgit apiece.

“So far, edotco’s performance has been good. But people will be more excited if it goes for listing,” said JF Apex Securities’ Analyst Lee Cherng Wee.

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https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Markets/Nikkei-Markets/Axiata-unit-edotco-mulling-foraying-into-Thailand-Vietnam