Ipoh (2023)

April 26 – 29, 2023

In April 2023, Urban Culture Asia (UCA) brought over 20 young agropreneurs and delegates from Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) to Ipoh, to accelerate cross-border strategic partnerships and seek opportunities in the agribusiness field. This marks UCA’s 2nd visit to Ipoh since 2017!

Supported by Nutrious Farms and Sekoi Sdn Bhd, the four-day business and culture expedition followed several site visits to cucumber and fish farms and Gopeng AgroTech Farm, to gain insights on the new technologies and agricultural practices in Ipoh. In order to know more about Ipoh’s history and culture, we also embarked on a guided museum visit of IpohWorld at 1Lasam, and a heritage trail along Ipoh Old Town guided by Mr Koh Chye Hock, our head of delegation. We visited the Ipoh Railway Station, the Birch Memorial Clock Tower, mural lanes, Padang and the old business district, and Concubine Lane. As our visit coincided with the first week of Hari Raya, our delegates experienced the festivity through firecracker sightings, a cultural fair, and even learnt some Malay dance moves from the locals!

UCA Ipoh facilitated knowledge sharing and networking sessions, where our delegates interacted with agriculture and biotechnology students from Quest International University, throughout 3 days. At its highlight, our delegates also presented their business ideas to Perak’s Menteri Besar and the state government representatives, where they gained strong support, feedback and insights to Ipoh’s agriculture landscape from the Perak leaders. Through this meeting, UCA Ipoh has established a future for a young start-up culture in Ipoh that strives to boost Perak’s agribusiness sector, further strengthen food security and propel agri-tech advancements.