MALAYSIA TO HOST REGIONAL FINALS OF HSBC YOUNG ENTREPRENEUR AWARDS

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will host the regional finals of
the HSBC Young Entrepreneur Awards (YEA) 2009/2010.

HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd's executive director and deputy chief executive
Jonathan Addis said this would be the first time that the YEA regional finals
was held outside Hong Kong.

Addis said that besides Malaysia, the YEA competition runs concurrently in
Hong Kong, Thailand, the Phillipines, Brunei and Bangladesh.

"It aims to provide young undergraduates with the opportunity to develop
their interest in entrepreneurship, enhance their creativity, and help them
acquire new business skills," he said at the launch of the YEA Awards here
Tuesday.

HSBC Malaysia's head, group communications and corporate sustainability,
Elizabeth Wee, said the competition, previously known as the HSBC Young IT
Entrepreneur Awards, was now in its ninth year.

"Participants must be Malaysian citizens who are full-time university or
diploma students from public or private universities or colleges based in
Malaysia," she said.

Wee said unlike previous years, where registered participants needed to
submit a 1,000-word plan, registrants would now just have to submit a 100-word
description of their business ideas.

"However, the rest of the competition remains unchanged as participants will
still vie for the self-development fund of RM15,000 (gold winner), RM10,000
(silver winner) and RM5,000 (bronze winner)," she said. (US$1=RM3.40)

The entry form can now be downloaded from the YEA website at www.asiayea.com
and the closing date for entries is Dec 11, 2009.
-- BERNAMA