Kota Kinabalu: The Sabah Business Development Association (SBDA) is shifting its focus towards youth development and education, with the goal to build stronger links between young people, educational institutions and the business community.
According to SBDA President Lie Chun Vui, this deliberate move aims to differentiate the association within Sabah’s crowded business NGO landscape by steering away from traditional political commentaries and macroeconomic policy debates.
“We have numerous local business associations these days, so to be unique or different than others, we felt our efforts could have greater long-term impact by concentrating on the younger generation and education sector. Our focus now is on institutions, universities and youngsters,” he said.
Lie said SBDA’s approach was not to abandon business development, but to complement its existing activities by creating opportunities for the next generation youths to gain exposure to education, skills and the business environment.
Beyond education, the association also intends to expose its members to international business opportunities through connections with markets such as China and Hong Kong.
He said the association had facilitated visits by members to international trade fairs and expos, where participants could explore products ranging from electronics and robotics to toys and stationery, as well as identify potential business opportunities.
Lie added examples of members who had explored new business opportunities following such trips, demonstrating how international exposure could translate into practical commercial initiatives.
However, he stressed that SBDA did not intend to compete with other organisations by simply becoming another platform for broad business commentary.
Instead, the association wanted to concentrate on areas where it could make a practical contribution, particularly in connecting young people and businesses with education, skills development and wider networks.
Recently, the association has already signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with AMC University College, with further collaborations involving other educational institutions such as TAR UMT and MSU College are currently being explored.
“The partnership with AMC University College which was formally established in July this year, is aimed at strengthening industry-academia cooperation where educational institutions approached SBDA for assistance with skills-related programmes for their students.
“This is indicating growing potential for cooperation between us and these educational institutions as such initiatives could provide students with practical exposure while allowing the business community to play a more active role in developing the next generations.
“For SBDA, investing in youth development represented a longer-term approach to business and economic development, one that could help create a more capable generation of entrepreneurs, professionals and industry players in Sabah.
Lie said this when met after officiating the networking dinner organised by the Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (MCCC) Sabah and SBDA, near here on Saturday where he thanked MCCC Sabah President, Datuk Dexter Lau for inviting a newly formed association like SBDA to the event.
Meanwhile, Lau welcomes the SBDA as MCCC Sabah’s new partner within the business community here in the state and looks forward to building an everlasting partnership between the two organisations.
“Although SBDA is still at its early stage, I believe that with a group of passionate, experienced and responsible entrepreneurs working together, it will certainly be able to gradually establish its own identity and create more meaningful opportunities for its members.
“Moving forward, we can get to know each other’s members, better understand their resources and needs, and explore cooperation in areas such as business networking, business matching, industry forums, corporate visits and trade missions,” he said.
He also added that with SBDA focusing towards youth development and education is already in line with MCCC Sabah’s own initiative of nurturing the next gen entrepreneurs, hinting at a promising start to their partnership.
“I believe Sabah’s business development needs more platforms like this. Different business associations do not necessarily have to be competitors. Instead, we can leverage our respective strengths, support one another and work together to create more opportunities for businesses.
“We should also connect the networks, resources and experiences within the business community, helping Sabah companies expand beyond the state while attracting more businesses from other parts of Malaysia and the international community to Sabah,” said Lau in his speech at the dinner.
