KUCHING: Tabung Ekonomi Gagasan Anak Sarawak (Tegas) has won The BrandLaureate Brand of The Year Award 2022 (e-Branding in Enterprise – Digital Innovation Solutions) for its Tegas Digital Village.
Chairman Datuk Len Talif Salleh said the award was recognition of the organisation’s efforts and commitment in empowering startups and social enterprises in Sarawak through Tegas Digital Village (TDV) and Tegas Digital Innovation Hub (TDIH) since 2017.
“The Tegas team led by Sarawak Deputy Minister for Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts, Datuk Snowdan Lawan will be flying to Kuala Lumpur right after this event to receive the prestigious award at The BrandLaureate Brand of The Year Award 2022 Gala Dinner at The Majestic Hotel tonight,” he said.
Len Talif, who is also the Sarawak Deputy Minister for Urban Planning, Land Administration and Environment, said this at a press conference after the Shell LiveWIRE Sarawak 2022 Awards at Tegas Digital Village on Wednesday (Dec 7).
Earlier, he said the awards were all about celebrating Anak Sarawak in bringing potential startup ideas to reality, in which they witnessed brilliant presentations and pitches by local entrepreneurs throughout the LiveWIRE programme.
“It is encouraging to see an increase in participation from Sarawak entrepreneurs in this year’s programme. The programme was first introduced in Sarawak in 2016.
“Since then, Shell LiveWIRE Sarawak has seen over 400 entrepreneurs participating in the programme. A total of 30 have received RM405,000 in seed grants from both Shell Malaysia and Tegas to date.
“Tegas has also supported the Shell LiveWIRE entrepreneurs by providing access to our co-working space and other facilities at the Tegas Digital Village and Tegas Digital Innovation Hub in Kuching, Bintulu and Miri.
“They have also benefitted from publicity and networking opportunities made available by Tegas.”
Shell Malaysia chairman Datuk Ivan Tan said the Shell LiveWIRE programme was an important part of Shell’s community skills and enterprise development commitment to support and inspire young people to innovate and conceptualise real business solutions that meet today’s socioeconomic needs.
“The programme aims to stimulate the local economy through entrepreneurship, innovation, and meaningful employment.
“Through business innovation, we empower the entrepreneurs to explore ideas using different and successful ways to add value to the market and society.”
