Two of Brunei’s women entrepreneurs were awarded the ASEAN Young Women Entrepreneurs Awards 2022 at a Gala Dinner co-organised by the Cambodian Ministry of Women’s Affairs, CamWEN, ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council and ASEAN Young Women Entrepreneurs Club under the ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit 2022 at Sofitel Hotel in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The two are Tyne Solutions Co-Founder/Director of Digital Innovation and Growth Aimi Ramlee and Blue Raincoat Collective Founder Shinny Chia.
Cambodian Minister of Women’s Affairs Ing Kanthaphavi presented the awards to Young Entrepreneurs Association of Brunei (YEAB) President Nurliyana Fatin binti Arifin who represented the awardees.
Nurliyana Fatin, who is also the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council 2021 Chair and ASEAN Young Women Entrepreneurs Club 2022 Vice Chairperson, said, “We are pleased to see Bruneian women entrepreneurs being recognised at such a prestigious award ceremony with other 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 sector.
“Aside from running their businesses, they are active in community development and we are truly proud of their impact and success.”
Shinny said, “Receiving this award and being recognised at an ASEAN level 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 non-conventional way from the start so the odds were against us to even make it as a company.
“I’ve been fortunate to have support from Bank Islam Brunei Darussalam (BIBD) partnering with us for the Community for Brunei platform, and YEAB. I would say finding the right support system with clients, project partners and even our own internal team has been crucial to our success.
“I’m grateful to everyone for supporting me in some way or another because it was the culmination of all that support that helped get me to where I am today.”
“Any female entrepreneur will know how hard it is to manage a business so I hope this inspires them to never give up on their dream,” said Shinny.
Aimi said she was honoured and grateful for the recognition at a regional level.
“More importantly, I am happy to see ASEAN celebrating and showcasing the important role women entrepreneurs play in the local and regional economy an also as community leaders. I hope these efforts will lead to more intra-regional collaborations and I look forward to expanding our business further across ASEAN.”
The ASEAN Women Entrepreneurs Conference also took place the same afternoon, hosted under the 2nd ASEAN Women Leaders’ Summit. Nurliyana Fatin was invited to speak in the panel on ‘Women’s Empowerment Principles: Voices and Reflections from Women Entrepreneurs’.
YEAB is a founding member of the ASEAN Young Entrepreneurs Council and ASEAN Young Women Entrepreneurs Club, both networks of young entrepreneurs organisations in ASEAN.
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 of ASEAN. YEAB is expected to bring a delegation of entrepreneurs to Cambodia.
