At the end of August SODBI Business Incubator managing Director Mr. Kairat Sugurbekov participated in the Conference, dedicated to the issues of development of co-operation and collaboration, promotion to technological development, and integration of high technologies into expanding industrial capacities in the town of Weihai, China...
At the end of August SODBI Business Incubator managing Director Mr. Kairat Sugurbekov participated in the Conference, dedicated to the issues of development of co-operation and collaboration, promotion to technological development, and integration of high technologies into expanding industrial capacities in the town of Weihai, China. The Conference was organized by the Asian Science and Technology Parks Association (ASPA), which comprises technology parks and business incubators from China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. A number of guests from Finland, the USA, Great Britain, South Africa, and India participated in the event together with the 300 key managers of technology parks from the countries-participants. The President of Kazakhstani Association of Business Incubators and Innovation Centers (KABIC) Mr. Dukenbayev and The Vice-President of the KABIC, SODBI Business Incubator Managing Director Mr. Kairat Sugurbekov represented Kazakhstan. Mr. Sugurbekov made a report on incubation development and technology transfer-related issues in Kazakhstan and Central Asia. The following is a text of the interview that was conducted after the conference between Mr. Sugurbekov and a local television station. - Does participation of SODBI in international conferences play into the hands of a Business Incubator and its clients? КS: First of all the participation promotes to our image and raises awareness abroad. It is an opportunity to establish and enhance cross-border contacts, which can result into attracting of international partners and investors. Furthermore, we aim at making presentations ourselves, as it happed in China. At the Eighth Annual Conference of ASPA I made a report on a current situation in entrepreneurship development and business incubation-related issues in Central Asia. Now we are willing not to restrict ourselves to listening and discussing of conference topics only, but sharing our own experience and knowledge with colleagues worldwide via making presentations. - What incited the interest of foreign partners to the topic in question? КS: I believe the cause is experience exchange. Experts in business incubation sphere keep sharing of positive and negative experiences, likewise experts in different fields do. To my mind, sharing of experience is crucial for the development in general. - What kind of experience have you taken over the three days? КS: Marketing of Weihai (the conference town) is an excellent example. Marketing arrangements there proved to be on the highest level. We are going to launch a marketing promotion campaign for Southern Kazakhstan as well, and we have already begun this project. Among our partners are the City Administration, Economic Relations and Investments Department, Tourism and Sport Department. Application of the generated and shared international experience and our own resources both may lead to achieving positive results. Another example is Chinese co-operative work with students. About 150 students-volunteers participated in the Conference. In the process of working and arranging the event they both acquired whopping experience, and contributed to the conference success. Students of Southern Kazakhstani State University did practical work at SODBI Business Incubator. Now we are going to mentor and coach the students of Economics and IT departments in writing diploma papers. We would also like to encourage students to work on voluntary basis. - Will the international activities positively impact on the success of local entrepreneurs? КS: If we are not asked for help, we cannot help, as soon as we are not aware of the help needed. What kind of help can we suggest? We can promote to establishment of contacts with Technology Parks and Business Incubators across the border. Recently we discussed a possibility of sharing experience among business incubators and clients on an international level. We even got several proposals on exchange of clients and managers. It might be a unique opportunity for development of international contacts. - What is the key to successful cross-border activities? КS: Trust is crucial. While we are going to transfer technologies from abroad, develop international partnerships and attract foreign investments, trust is the key to the overall success. Today we build the bridge on trust with our cross-border partners and maintain mainly personal contacts. - What are your plans for the future? КS: In October we are going to speak at the next Conference event in New Delhi, India. Sharing experience in business incubation with information technologies application will be highlighted during the Conference meetings. Later, we will participate in the Tenth Summit of Business Incubators Associations. These are our plans for the future in brief. -Thank you for the interview!