Saturday July 24, 2010
By EDY SARIF

Hafidz Hashim says local and international events and exhibitions that are related to ICT and innovation are important and relevant to Cyberview in attracting SMEs to set up offices in Cyberjaya.


.
CYBERJAYA may be seen as a high-tech hub that hosts many global names, but like any other business communities, it needs to have a healthy mix of large multinational corporations, support businesses and young but hungry ventures. As such, there is certainly room for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to thrive in Cyberjaya.

The government-owned Cyberview Sdn Bhd, the landowner of Cyberjaya, sees local and international information and communications technology (ICT) events and exhibitions as among the best ways to promote Cyberjaya and its SME players, says managing director Hafidz Hashim.


Cyberview annually identifies key events and trade exhibitions that will provide the greatest benefits and significance to Cyberjaya and its SMEs, says Hafidz Hashim.

“Apart from that, local and international events and exhibitions that are related to ICT and innovation are important and relevant to Cyberview in attracting SMEs to set up offices in Cyberjaya,” he tells StarBizWeek in an email response to questions.

He adds that Cyberview’s empowerments of its knowledge-based SMEs are tangibly demonstrated through offshore showcases such as the recent CommunicAsia 2010 in Singapore.

“The event provided opportunities for business networking, partnerships, market relevance and avenues for business growth. This year too, Cyberview has actively participated in CeBIT 2010 at Hannover, Germany; WCIT in Amsterdam, the Netherlands; SESTECH 2010 at Kuala Lumpur; and Malaysia Showcase at Brunei,” he says.

Cyberview, he adds, not only continuously seeks out international engagements via offshore trade shows and exhibitions, but also adds value to ICT and k-economy businesses nurtured in Cyberjaya by encouraging local Cyberjaya-based SMEs to participate in those events.

Hafidz says several key events and trade exhibitions are identified annually as the ones that will provide the greatest benefits and significance to Cyberjaya and its SMEs.

“Business leads are measured through set frameworks and key performance indicators, and the results have been promising, not only in broadening the SMEs’ markets but also their international business mindsets,” he says.

At CommunicAsia 2010, Cyberview led a group comprising four SMEs to showcase and market their products. CommunicAsia is an established one-stop ICT event platform. The event is an ideal marketplace to bring buyers and sellers together to seek the best returns on investments and to determine the best value and latest convergent technologies and applications.

The four SMEs involved were Cruise GPS Systems Sdn Bhd, a global positioning system (GPS) tracking and navigational solutions provider; Geoflex Sdn Bhd, a radio frequency identification application and new media content developer; RL Dynamic Engineering Sdn Bhd, a specialist in advanced educative, entertainment and training motion simulators; and Pulse Group plc, Asia’s leading digital research agency offering global respondent sampling.

Hafidz says this is Cyberview’s second time participating in CommunicAsia as it continues its momentum in forging partnerships with potential investors and establishing the presence of its SME tenants’ offerings in the international market.

“With a focus on ICT and innovative investments, Cyberjaya’s business clusters have a ‘multiplier effect’ on the SME technopreneurs who have consistently demonstrated stellar growth and innovation, resulting in products and services of global standards which are demonstrated at CommunicAsia 2010,” he adds.


Isa Adam Yee (right) and Cruise GPS chief technical office Syed Mohamad Taha at the CommunicAsia event in Singapore recently.

All the SMEs responded positively to the feedback they received at the event. They tell StarBizWeek that they are looking forward to participating in more such events in the future.

Cruise GPS Systems chief executive officer Isa Adam Yee said the company promoted its solutions to visitors from various countries during the Singapore event.

“We were able to obtain some leads for distributors and resellers. There were also leads that had requested for us to customise and localise the solutions to fit their individual countries and regions,” he says, adding that this promotion is a way to benchmark the company’s available solutions and also how it can customise the solutions to fit the customers’ specific needs.

“We are now more aware of the available technologies and the companies that carry them. We have also had a chance to network with a few players in the market.

“We can look into research and development in our plans and also possible collaborations should the need arise,” Isa says.

He is looking forward to participating in future events, saying that targeted events, such as CommunicAsia, provide a chance to promote Cruise GPS’ presence as an SME under the Cyberjaya umbrella.

“It better positions us as a formidable player in the market. We had the chance to promote to a very different market compared with the fairs that we have participated in the past,” he says.

Pulse Group senior research manager Wiryandi Hamidon says the company managed to get at least five client leads from Hong Kong, Brunei and Singapore.

“We are looking forward to participating in such events as it exposes us to the regional market,” he says.

RL Dynamic has connected with three potential customers and one joint-venture partner, while Geoflex received collaboration inquiries from three Singapore companies with regard to hardware and system integration for its product.

----- Source: The Star Online