MOU Exchange Ceremony with iRewards

Front row, from left: Prof Ewe, Co-founder of iRewards Seng, CEO of SAME Foo, Prof Chuah and Founder of iRewards Chan with the participants

A memorandum of understanding (MoU), which was already signed in advance between UTAR and iRewards Berhad, was exchanged officially between both institutions at Sungai Long Campus on 19 October 2017.

Representing UTAR at the MoU exchange ceremony were its President Ir Prof Academician Dato’ Dr Chuah Hean Teik witnessed by Vice President for Internationalisation and Academic Development Prof Ir Dr Ewe Hong Tat; while iRewards Berhad was represented by its Founder Aaron Chan Eng Aun witnessed by its Co-founder Manfred Seng Kok Wan.

The ceremony was graced by Secretariat for the Advancement of Malaysian Entrepreneurs (SAME) Chief Executive Officer Neil Foo Seck Chyn. Also present at the exchange ceremony were guests from iRewards Berhad, Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (MATRADE) and Beezmall IP Sdn Bhd as well as UTAR staff and students.  

Aimed to enhance the collaborations between both institutions, the MoU will provide great potential and significance for both sides in a win-win situation. Both parties have reached a consensus to have collaborations in the area of e-commerce, research and industrial training that would bring benefits to iRewards as well as the University and the community especially in Kampar.

Prof Chuah delivering his speech

“E-commerce is growing, undoubtedly; it might be a good opportunity to train graduates with this knowledge of the new trend in doing business,” Prof Chuah continued, “Things are changing. This kind of collaboration with E-commerce Company particularly homegrown need to be further strengthened so that we do not only train student of the past, we are able to train students of the future who will not just remain as workers but also an entrepreneur.” He then added, “We hope that, in the near future, we can have entrepreneurs who graduate from UTAR.”

Seng highlighting the importance of youth in the rising trend of e-commerce

Seng gave a brief introduction about iRewards’ inception and remarked, “Partnership with Alibaba B2B call centre is a great milestone for the Malaysian small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to be exposed to the international platform where iRewards believes that it will help to boost their businesses to the next level.” He explained that iRewards is committed to assisting the Malaysian government in all its expert in order to help and educate the SMEs in doing profitable businesses so that they will have a greater contribution in achieving Malaysia target—gross domestic product (GDP) growth by the year of 2020. He also believes that there are many hidden talents and ideas from the youth, which is the asset of our country, in the academic world to be discovered during the collaborations such as research and development activities.

Foo sharing about his personal experiences in China

“E-commerce is not about the future, it is about yesterday,” said Foo during the ceremony. Sharing about his personal experiences in China, he highlighted the fast development of e-commerce and urged the SMEs in Malaysia as well as big companies to take advantage of the growth opportunities in the e-commerce space.

The event then ended on a high note with souvenir exchange ceremony, followed by a photography session.

The MoU exchange between Prof Chuah (second from right) and Chan (second from left), witnessed by Seng (far left), Foo (centre) and Prof Ewe

Prof Chuah (second from right) presenting the token of appreciation to Foo (centre)

Souvenir exchange between Prof Chuah (second from right) and Chan (second from left)