The Centre for Economic Studies (CES) with Department of Economics and Sustainable Development Club of UTAR Kampar Campus parked under the Faculty of Business and Finance (FBF), organised a webinar titled “Agritech and Entrepreneurship in Emerging Economies” on 12 March 2021 via Zoom. The webinar recorded a total of 377 participants in attendance.

The invited speakers were from Shri Ram College of Commerce (SRCC), University of Delhi, India Assoc Prof Dr Suman Bhakri and Dr Surya Prakash. The webinar was moderated by FBF Department of Economics lecturer Lim Shiau Mooi and assisted by lecturers Chitrah Krishnan and Kalaivani Kalimuthu.
 
The speakers shared their research ideas and knowledge on agriculture economics. The objective of the webinar was to highlight the importance of the agriculture sector and entrepreneurship in emerging economies and to explore the assistance provided by the Malaysian government in agricultural business.

Dr Suman started the presentation with her topic titled “Agripreneurship: A Buzz Word for Agrarian Economies”. She said, “With the world population set to grow to over 9 billion people by 2050, the demand for food is growing proportionately. The United Nations (UN) estimates that we will have to double our agricultural output by 2050 to keep up with this worldwide population growth.” Besides, producing food the agriculture sector is also one of the main generators of employment and income worldwide. In addition, she said the use of technology in agriculture with the aim of improving sustainability, efficiency and profitability is the key to solve problems with food production and the preservation of natural resources.

The webinar continued with Dr Surya presenting his talk titled “Start-Ups in Emerging Economies: Need for New Business Models for Economic Development”. According to Dr Surya, an entrepreneur is a person who undertakes a venture with some profit potential while involving a considerable amount of risk. Hence, entrepreneurship is a venture undertaken by the entrepreneur. Dr Surya also highlighted the five C’s of the entrepreneurship ecosystem. They are Capital (financial resources), Capability (entrepreneur and owner skillset), Connection (resource and relationship network), Culture (the local communities’ perception and support of entrepreneurship) and Climate (regulatory, economic development and policy environment).

CES Chairperson Dr Vikniswari Vija Kumaran said, “The webinar was held to show the importance of agriculture economics and entrepreneurship in emerging economies. Besides, the webinar aims to encourage the students to learn and understand the market opportunities in the agriculture sector, as well as to become young entrepreneurs and be able to understand the changes and adaptation in the agriculture sector with the latest technology and market demands in emerging economies.”
                                                                                                                          
The webinar ended with interactive Q&A and group photography sessions.