THE STARTUP CONNECT GATHERING

Speech by Chief Minister of Penang
At The Startup Connect Gathering (August 2017)

@CAT Wisma Yeap Chor Ee, George Town, Penang
17 August 2017

Good evening.

I am pleased to be present at @CAT Wisma Yeap Chor Ee this evening to join all of you here at the Startup Connect Gathering (August 2017). It is here at @CAT where I can enjoy feeling younger with startups and young millennials who are passionate about their ideas, inventions and innovations in Penang.

I support this Startup Connect Gathering, a series of quarterly gathering that introduces MNCs and SMEs to entrepreneurs and ventures relevant to their industry by providing real insights, inspiration and exchanges.

Penang – A Vibrant State for Ideas, Creativity and innovation

This October will mark the second anniversary of the launch of @CAT Penang Wisma Yeap Chor Ee, which we launched on 10 October 2015. The State Government invested RM23 million to rejuvenate this beautiful heritage building which now serves as a platform and launch pad in bringing the tech-startup community under one roof, providing necessary support and services to build a strong ecosystem which includes promotion and teaching of technology, coding, e-business and maker-fest.

Since its inception, @CAT Penang has served as Penang’s catalyst in accelerating emerging tech start-ups & entrepreneurs to gain access to our co-working space & shared facilities, tech community events and entrepreneurship development programs. As of today, more than 500 co-working space applications were approved and approximately 150 tech community events & entrepreneurship development programs combined were held at @CAT Penang. @CAT Penang is also proud to be the centre of Founder Institute, a 14-week Silicon Valley based idea stage accelerator program. Last year’s program was a great success, producing a total of 7 graduates, in which 2 of them were successfully funded.

Only a month ago, the internationally renowned BarCamp series was successfully organized here at @CAT Penang by the enthusiastic local startup community – attracting over 300 participants to exchange knowledge and experience with each other in the areas of technology, arts, and science. Moving forward, the State Government through @CAT Penang and Penang Hill Corporation will be launching an exciting 2-day ‘Design-a-thon Challenge’ on 28 & 29 Oct of this year, enabling local tech enthusiasts to test their skills in creating solutions to improve visitor experience at Penang Hill by using technology and software solutions.

The young people will greatly benefit from all our STEM activities, and the State is committed create human talent to drive and support the Digital Economy and the 4th Industrial Revolution comprising of Big Data Analytics, cloud computing, e-commerce, cyber-security, robotics, artificial intelligence and internet of things. The annual Penang Science Fair – the largest and most successful industry-government collaborative science fair in Malaysia will introduce new technology to the masses. It is also in Penang that we have the first digital library operating 24 hours all year round, and the programme such as Startup Connect Gathering at @CAT today shows our long-term initiative for the startups in Penang.

Closing

I wish to thank Mr. Wong Li Soong, General Manager and Mr. Ang Tee Chian, Technical Director of Expedio Design, Mr. Chan Kee Siak, Founder of Exabytes Network and Mr. Ober Choo, Co-Founder and Technical Director of Cytron for taking their time to be here to share your ideas and encourage our startups here in Penang.

Also, thank you investPenang and @CAT Penang for working on this series of Startup Connect Gathering, and I hope that this consistent quarterly gathering will uplift our startup community support and boost the startups in Penang.

Thank you.