Networking is the buzzword for today’s successful businesses. Yet, the questions that recur are, how do you build a good business network and who are the people to network with? Certainly, finding the right opportunity to network does not come easy.

The 7th World Chinese Entrepreneurs Convention (WCEC) held recently at the Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre in Bandar Sunway, Selangor, did just that - it provided the more than 3,500 participants the chance to mingle and network. The convention is believed to be the largest gathering of ethnic Chinese businessmen, coming from more than 20 countries in Southeast Asia, North America, Australasia and Europe.

Apart from the opening fanfare, city tours and gala dinners, the convention provided a forum for the meeting of minds and sharing of experience and expertise among business leaders in all spheres.

`There is a lot of potential for Malaysian and Chinese corporate and business leaders to work together,’ says Hu Zhengyu, China’s ambassador to Malaysia, adding that the event is an indication of the good relations between Malaysia and China. `We are looking forward to more business deals to be signed by the year’s end.’

Indeed, the overseas Chinese networks constitute the single most dominant private business grouping in Asia outside Japan. Indonesian delegate and Indonesia Chinese Chamber of Commerce representative, Ted Sioeng, says the WCEC provides the best environment for networking.

We are seeing a long process of business cooperation between Indonesia,Malaysia and China,’ he says, adding that the stable political climate of the two countries is conducive to business cooperation and cross- boundary networking.

However, networking remains a very intangible element and is rather hard to ascertain. `You cannot immediately see the real outcome of the 7th WCEC, says Wang Wuyi, a social economist at the Macao Polytechnic Institute. Still, he adds, the mere action of exchanging business cards itself would open many doors to future business cooperation.

How does the networking take place? Working along the lines of the British Old Boys Network, networking among the overseas Chinese is mainly along clan, dialect and trade lines. Interestingly, a Chinese of Hokkien descent in Indonesia would find it easy to network and do business with a fellow Hokkien in Malaysia or the Philippines.

Quintessentially, the overseas Chinese business network is shaped by the Chinese diaspora patterns, with the Chinese forming a diverse group divided by geographical background, social class and different sub-communities. In Southeast Asia, the networking is sometimes loosely organised, consisting of loosely connected individuals and companies, forged together by mutual obligations and trust.

Nevertheless, in recent years, networking such as guild wars gold,lotro gold,runescape gold among Chinese businessmen has moved beyond clans or dialect distinction. The ability to communicate in a common language such as English or Mandarin provides the link for major Chinese networks, especially in Southeast Asia.

Vice Secretary of the Indonesian Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Indonesia Confucian Society, Richard LC Tan, says the similarities in language, cultural and geography allow for better networking.Tan also sees the potential for networking to cross ethnic Chinese lines. Malaysians and Indonesians share a similar heritage and it would be easy for the nationals of both countries to invest and trade with each other. He says the ethnic Chinese have a role to play in Chinese- pribumi business networkings. `It is important for the Chinese businessmen to contribute back to society,’ he says.

Interestingly, Tan does not see the 7th WCEC as a business conference. It is a reunion to develop the business potential, not a business signing conference. Chinese-Filipino Business Club president Aw Peng Lam shares the view. ‘Doing business is not unlike making friends. All you need is the right environment, and doing business would come almost naturally.’For Aw, the idea of networking among Chinese businessmen would also have to come naturally.

Thai delegate Prasorng Owlarn, president of the Owlarn Group and the Thai-Hainanese Association, says one cannot wrap up business deals in a few days, as they have to take a natural course of scrutiny and evaluation. Yet, Prasorng is confident that the unity among the overseas Chinese provides a positive contribution to a globalised economy where business operations extend beyond political borders.

Held once every two years, the WCEC’s avowed objective is to provide a platform for strengthening international cooperation and networking of ethnic Chinese entrepreneurs from different nations and regions so as to foster global linkages in trade and investment for the economic growth and prosperity of all nationalities.

By: David Zheng