Two Bruneian women entrepreneurs have been awarded the ASEAN Young Women Entrepreneurs Awards 2022 at a Gala Dinner co-organised by the Ministry of Women’s Affairs of Cambodia, CamWEN, ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council and ASEAN Young Women Entrepreneurs Club under the 2nd ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit 2022 in Cambodia.
Co-Founder and Director of Digital Innovation & Growth of Tyne Solutions Aimi Ramlee and Founder of Blue Raincoat Collective Shinny Chia are recipients of the prestigious award.
The awards were handed over by Her Excellency Ing Kanthaphavi, Minister of Women’s Affairs of Cambodia to Fatin Arifin, President, Young Entrepreneurs Association of Brunei; Chair 2021, ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council & Vice Chairlady 2022, ASEAN Young Women Entrepreneurs Club, representing the awardees.
“We are pleased to see our Bruneian women entrepreneurs being recognised at such a prestigious award ceremony together with other incredible women entrepreneurs from across ASEAN. Both Aimi and Shinny are great agents of change who are tireless in their pursuit of Brunei’s progress and development in the tech and creative sectors respectively,” said Fatin in a statement.
She added: “Aside from running their businesses, they take active involvement in community development, and we are truly proud of their impact and success.”
On her part, Shinny Chia said that receiving the award and being recognised at an ASEAN level truly means so much.
“Being a woman, running a social enterprise, and trying to build an industry and culture from the ground up. I’ve done everything in a very non-conventional way from the start, so the odds were against us to even make it as a company,” she said.
“I’ve been very fortunate to have wonderful support such as BIBD partnering with us for the Community for Brunei platform, and YEAB, where you get a lot of support from your peers so I would say finding the right support system with clients, project partners and even our own internal team, has been crucial to our success,” added Chia.
“Any female entrepreneur will know how just how hard it is to run a business so I hope this inspires them to never give up on their dream,” said the Blue Raincoat Collective founder, thanking everyone who have supported her.
For Aimi, she is honoured and grateful for the recognition at a regional level. More importantly, she is happy to see ASEAN celebrating and showcasing the important role women entrepreneurs play in not only the local and regional economy but also as impactful community leaders.
“I hope these efforts will lead to more intra-regional collaborations and I look forward to expanding our business further across ASEAN,” she said.
Moreover, the ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs Conference also took place on the same day hosted under the 2nd ASEAN Women Leaders Summit where Fatin Arifin was invited to speak in a panel on “Women’s Empowerment Principles: Voices and Reflections from Women Entrepreneurs”.
The Young Entrepreneurs Association of Brunei is a founding member of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council and ASEAN Young Women Entrepreneurs Club which are both networks of leading young entrepreneurs’ organisations in ASEAN aimed at connecting entrepreneurs together.
The ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council in collaboration with the Young Entrepreneurs Association of Cambodia will host the 7th Edition of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Carnival themed “Rise Stronger Together” from November 11 to 13 in Phnom Penh in conjunction with Cambodia’s Chairmanship to ASEAN this year.
YEAB is expected to bring a delegation of young entrepreneurs to Cambodia. Any entrepreneurs keen to join are welcome to get in touch with YEAB.
THE BRUNEIAN | BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
