作者: alicesyu

Many of you may know Malaysia as a country of Southeast Asia, composed of two noncontiguous regions. With diverse ethnic groups dwelling on this nation, it also lies in the geographical pivot, thus serving as a perfect attraction for the younger generation who would like to break new ground overseas.

Nonetheless, little do you beware that Taiwan is actually seeking stronger ties with this country. As reported by the Malaysian Friendship & Trade Centre in Taipei (MFTC), in light of the New South Bound Policy, significant progress has been made in terms of bilateral relations, and especially in the field of education!

As stated by the representative of Malaysian Friendship and Trade Centre, Anwar Udzir, if we want the retention rates of global talents in Taiwan go up steadily, a friendly environment for foreigners must be built. Take food for example. Since Muslims may have a hard time hunting for halal food in Taiwan, they may naturally, subconsciously deny the option to stay in Taiwan and develop further career paths.

For some indelible moments that we had with Mr. Anwar, please subscribe our Facebook fanpage and pay it a visit!

https://www.facebook.com/STARTBOARD.co/posts/622027041549340

      STARTBOARD 2018 Indonesia Theme Night was rounded off successfully on Oct, 16th! We need to express huge thanks to our opening guest,Didi Sumedi, and all of our keynote speakers — Kimyung Keng, L. Tri. Wijaya, Putu Aditya, Ryan Huang and Antonius Sunarto, for making these two hours and a half nothing short of pure delights! Now, if you happen to miss out on it, let’s review the event together.

Mr. Kimyung Keng (The founder of Taiwan Obama Association)

      If you can immerse yourself in a culture, then why on earth do you just scratch on the surface? — This line might best summarize the crucial insights from Mr. Kimyung Keng.

     As the cycle of prosperity keeps going on in Southeast Asia markets, an increasing number of people and young talents wanna take the chance, jumping in this pool of possibilities.  Nonetheless, little do we ponder on the “why.” Lacking the “why” is like taking a shot in the dark; once we haven’t had clearly understood the culture figured out our own advantages, the desire to separate yourself from the crowd would become nothing but an empty thought.

   Hence, Mr. Kimyung Keng emphasized the significance of “rethinking” and “localizing” by providing some of blindsides that we may ignore before braving through the Indonesia market! Take Go-Jek for example. The niche for this startup came in due to chaotic traffic in Indonesia. Knowing the local traffic congestion all too well, Go-Jek took motorcycles as their transportation, picking people up when they’re at the wits’ end for a traffic jam.

   Moreover, Go-Jek has been taking corporate social responsibility seriously. Traditionally, female passengers are poised to threats such as sexual harassment when taking public transportation. With an eye to eradicating this problem, instilling the concept of gender equality in the society step by step.  Had it not been for Go-Jek’s laser-like perception about real needs in Indonesia and its attention to social issues, this startup wouldn’t have gained popularity in this treacherous market.

Mr. L. Tri Wijaya N. Kusuma (The founder of Marine Highway Tech.)

A silver lining for maritime sector in Indonesia

Standing firmly and looking self-assured, Mr. L. Tri Wijaya N. Kusuma made his innovative ideas — Marine Highway Tech, alive on stage!

    As a not so familiar industry for the general public, the maritime sector sort of remains out-dated in our stereotype. However, it’s not Wijaya’s take.

    Wijaya firstly walked us through the status quo of maritime industry in Indonesia. By and large, its problems amount to operation procedures and costs; for instance, logistics and port operation costs are still high, coupled with unequally distribution patterns and product prices. Those obstacles are where Wijaya’s ideas popped up.  He delicately analyzed stakeholders of marine port system, which include:  government sector, port authority, shipping company, freighter operator and user external.

     By fully understanding the relation between different parties, he came up with an IOT platform for maritime system, which will greatly improve the efficacy by leaps and bounds.His platform deals with problems of maritime sector through integrating information and requests from consumer external, government sectors, port authorities and private companies. With the use of the platform, sunk costs, the cost of time and deadweight loss stemming from long dwelling time at a port would be wiped out!

STARTBOARD attended a banquet with representatives of bar associations from numerous countries, which were Thailand, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam respectively. Even though our conversation was a compression of time, limited to 2 hours, this thrilling night party was nothing short of pure delight and awesome vibes! During our time together, STARTBOARD had exchanged our perspectives on startups in ASEAN as well as South Asia with lawyers from around those countries; on the other hand, we’d also dug into realities such as business opportunities and legal hurdles in ASEAN markets through navigation of our global partners.

A gorgeous silver lining for startups and Taiwan company

From the very start, STARTBOARD reckoned that there must be a large number of deadlocks we needa deal with; instead, our discussions were totally beyond our imagination:

Domingo Egon Q. Cayosa, the executive vice president of Integrated Bar of the Philippines did give us a real shot in the arm. From his laser-like observation, the Philippines would be a paradise bursting with opportunities for foreign people to explore; several reasons are supportive of his insights — this country allows 100 percent foreign ownership in almost all sectors, which is deemed as an open economy. On top of that, the highly educated workforce and a literacy rate of 94.6 % actually top the chart in ASEAN countries. Therefore, so long as we find a correct place and usher the business in, we may able to light up the way for startups.

Additionally, Nandana Indananda, the vice chairman of  Lawyers Council of Thailand, brought up Thailand 4.0, indicating smart electronics, tourism, biotechnology, and food innovation and so on would take the lead; hence, if you’re particularly specialized in those fields, hesitate no more! Take the risks and jump in Thailand market, navigating your way out of its treacherous and challenging environment.

Besides, Tuyet. A Dinh, the representative of Vietnam Bar Federation, cut right into the chase by sharing foreign investment conditions in her homeland. With an eye to attracting qualified investments overseas as well as nurturing the existing investment in Vietnam, this country has poured tons of efforts and offer complete protection for foreign investment! If you ever want to win a hand and invest in this market, this’s a too good chance to miss!

From left to right: Executive Vice President and President-Elect of Integrated Bar of the Philippines, Domingo Egon Q. Cayosa, Representative of Vietnam Bar Federation, Dinh Anh Tuyet, Managing Partner of Louis International Patent, Paul C.C. Chen, and COO of STARTBOARD, Uniform Lin

From left to right: COO of STARTBOARD, Uniform Lin, Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affair Committee, Lawyers Council Under the Royal Patronage , Lawyers Council of Thailand, Nandana Indananda, Legal Consultant of Louis and Charles attorneys at Law, Pathika Jakkongthammakul and Managing Partner of Louis and Charles Attorneys at Law, Raymond Yu.

How about the legal or business environment?

Many of our special guests share the legal and business trends in their own country with us, which plays a pivotal role when someone plans to expand their business overseas!

According to Albert Zaw Min, the General Secretary and Head of International Relationship and Education Committee of Myanmar Bar Association, Myanmar market is quite open to foreign investment, which may be mutually beneficial! Abundant in natural resources, such as gas, wood, and fertile soil, etc, Myanmar is also rich in the gemstone. Aside from those incentives, Myanmar Special Economic Zone Law also came into play with its rules and notifications friendly for foreign investors!

Bob Tseng, the founder of THANLWIN LEGAL, a law firm in Myanmar, actually was born and raised in Taiwan. Envisioning business opportunities in Myanmar ushers him into this booming economy. From his point of view, he believes that if young people want to win a hand in this market, they need to have a deep insight into Myanmar laws, believing in its environment and moving Myanmar forward through the success!

We all realize that legal hurdles frustrate people conducting business overseas, so it’s common for people to seek legal help locally. Nonetheless, what if we may consult with lawyers from our homeland, who practice the law overseas? As stated by George Varughese, the President of Malaysian Bar, “Lawyers from a recognized jurisdiction are allowed to practice as a foreign lawyer in Malaysia.” If fortunately, your motherland is a recognized jurisdiction, looking for legal help would be much easier while you’re out of your comfort zone!

A broader vision for the holistic ecosystem for start-ups!

This night was vibrating with joy and friendly discussions! Hopefully, in the near future, the knowledge that STARTBOAD acquires would come in handy as we’re matching resources to both Taiwanese and global talents! As usual, STARTBOARD will always be zealous, in the best sense of the world when it comes to nurturing youths full of potentials, and we all look forward to a holistically friendly ecosystem for startups in Taiwan!

From left to right: COO of STARTBOARD, Uniform Lin, Director of Louis and Charles Attorneys at Law, F.C. Chen, Partner of Thanlwin Legal, Bob Tseng, Head of International Relationship & Education Committee, Myanmar Bar Association, Albert Zaw Min, and Managing Partner of Louis and Charles Attorneys at Law, Raymond Yu.

From left to right: COO of STARTBOARD, Uniform Lin, Legal Consultant of Louis and Charles attorneys at Law, Arpita Dutta, President of The Malaysia Bar, George Varughese and Managing Partner of Louis and Charles Attorneys at Law, Raymond Yu.

Previously on India Theme Night

India Theme Night held by STARTBOARD has caught the fancy of the audience on September 11, 2018. Located at Social Innovation Lab, the event was filled with excitement and curiosity from the audience. Not only to have a deeper understanding of India startup market and entrepreneur, but also to build a connection with fellow audiences and get some real-life experience from the professional guest speakers.

Arpitta Dutta, the third speaker, graduated from Department of Law and is currently a legal consultant of Louis International Patent Office. Been participating in a lot of entrepreneurial and legal lectures, here are some secrets she shared during India Theme Night:

Despite having a huge population, India has a lot of talents that also work in big countries, and it is also one of the reasons for India’s growth.

Advantages of foreign collaboration:

• a pool of skilled people
• industry infrastructure
• friendly regulatory framework
• 4th for protecting minor investor

She also emphasized that India is going to embrace the third largest group of young scientists population by 2020. As for startups industry itself, India is amongst the top five countries in the world,  ranking three after US and China. As for now, 90 Taiwanese companies are working in different sectors of the Indian economics.

Start business from the very beginning, it will get big over time.

Last but not least, our last speaker, Nicholas Yang, Chairman of NOVAX Material & Technology Inc, shared his key observations on the global market.

He first established his first company in 2003. Addressing the issue in global warming, he got an idea to make it into a business.  Hence, He tried to make renewable energy solutions.

NOVAX created Adblue, which is an application for using the Selective Catalyst Reduction system and create a solution for exhaust emission. 

From small beginnings to big impact!

From a very small beginning, now he is able to spread the app all over sixteen overseas countries, including India, China, Hong Kong, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Singapore. With his key to success at heart, he emphasized the core factors to win the market:

1. Branding
2. Innovation
3. Marketing
4. Channel (the channel is the most important. The more channel you have, more revenue and customers you can generate from them!)

On top of that, if we want to create a business model, we need to pay attention to the society, take care of the well-being of each other and think from a holistic point of view for human beings!