Countries in Southeast Asia like Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines may be up-and-coming entrepreneurial hubs, but their efforts may be undone by clogged airports.
An illuminating report by Reuters has revealed that Southeast Asia’s main airports are struggling to keep up with demand, resulting in delays, long lines, and planes being forced to circle overhead or wait at the tarmac.
The situation is likely to get worse.
A main reason for the spike is the emergence of low-cost carriers that have now enabled more people to visit other countries. This drastic increase in demand for budget travel was never foreseen by airport designers. Read more
Skype is nice, but you’re screwed if don’t have access to a wifi network and don’t want to pay hefty roaming charges. That’s a predicament many business travelers face when they’re out and about — say, heading to a site visit in India or a networking event in Vietnam.
Sure, the world is getting increasingly wired and a wifi Internet connection is becoming as common and taken-for-granted as water, but such luxuries aren’t always readily available in most countries. Read more
Filed under Featured, Great Business Ideas, Innovation & Technology, Mobile, TechnologyTags: flexiroam, Malaysia, Malaysia Entrepreneurs, malaysia entrepreneurship, malaysian entrepreneur, malaysian entrepreneurs, mobile roaming, roaming charges
Online payment giant PayPal has opened a Southeast Asia operations centre in Malaysia, reported the Business Times. With a 200-strong staff already on-site, they plan to hire 300 more by 2013. Read more
The next time you head for an important convention in Malaysia, don’t be surprised if the destination turns out to be Sarawak. While the state in East Malaysia certainly conjures up images of sleepy towns and deep jungles, the state government wants to turn it into a center for business, with MICE playing a large role (see report). Read more
In the vein of reality TV shows like Dragon’s Den, Shark Tank, and the upcoming The Angel’s Gate (see story), Malaysia will have Make The Pitch, its own homegrown entrepreneurial reality show which will screen on television channel NTV7 in October 2011. Read more
Filed under Entrepreneurs, Funding, Media, News Stop, Venture Capital & Private EquityTags: cradle fund, Dragon's Den, make the pitch, Malaysia, MDeC, myeg services, ntv7, shark tank, the angel's gate
Several startups are in discussions to tap on Plug & Play Malaysia‘s funding and connections with overseas investors, reported Bernama. Plug & Play Malaysia, also known as Real Plug & Play, is a combination of an incubation centre and a business development ecosystem. Read more
Chalkboard, a location-based mobile advertising platform, has inked a deal last week with mobile phone company HTC to offer its widget exclusively to HTC customers in Malaysia. The widget allows consumers to receive updates about daily deals, promotions, and product launches through their mobile phones. Read more
The mYprize Global Developer Challenge is a global competition aimed at challenging developers to create original applications and devices for YTL Communications’ nationwide 4G mobile Internet network set to be commercially launched in Malaysia later this year. Designed to inspire entrepreneurs and innovators around the world to create exciting new 4G mobile Internet products and services for Malaysian deployment, mYprize will give out a total of USD1M as prizes. Read more
The ASEANpreneurs Youth Leaders Network is a student organization dedicated to promoting entrepreneurship in the ASEAN region. This December from 13-19th, ASEANpreneurs will be holding a Youth Leaders Exchange Programme hosted by UNITEN, Malaysia. This will be an opportunity for all aspiring and passionate youth to explore and immerse in entrepreneurship as it is done and experienced in the ASEAN region. Read more
George Codula, the co-founder of Web2Asia, joined the TWIA crew this week to tell us the other perspective behind the Great Firewall on the recent Google showdown with the Chinese government, and examined the implications on Yahoo! and consequences on Google products if they departed. The group also chatted about the new apps store by TaoBao and the social gaming trends in China. The crew and their guest then moved back to talk about Rais Yatim, a minister from Malaysia on banning Facebook and Twitter and finally, the ruling from the South Korean supreme court on virtual and real currency. You can listen to the podcast directly here in SGEntrepreneurs or go to the TWIA site. Read more
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Filed under Innovation & Technology, Media, TechnologyTags: Asia Tech Podcast, Facebook, George Codula, Google, Google Android, Google China, Malaysia, Mobile Phones, podcast, Rais Yatim, South Korea, TaoBao, This Week in Asia, Twitter, Virtual Currency, Web2Asia, Yahoo! China
