THE Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC) today denied involvement in any quid pro quo arrangement in relation to Uber.

“Earlier this week, we were surprised to find ourselves named in an article that levelled serious accusations at the way Uber has operated in the region,” said chief executive officer Ashran Ghazi in a statement.

He said the agency regularly collaborated with corporates, connecting them with Malaysia’s leading entrepreneurial talent to help build a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Ashran said these strategic partnerships had helped inspire and nurture young entrepreneurs at the ideation stage.

An international news agency had reported that the US Department of Justice was investigating Uber to determine whether it had broken laws relating to overseas bribery.

The report said as a result, Uber’s law firm was investigating a corporate donation worth “tens of thousands of dollars” that Uber had made in August last year to MaGIC.

The bribery allegation was related to MaGIC’s Asean Next Great Idea (ANGI), which was co-organised by MaGIC, Uber and another corporate partner, and launched in August last year.

In the collaboration, MaGIC compiled content, planned modules and marketed the programme to woo Asean participants, while Uber was responsible for the ideation lab. The third partner provided the start-up strategy.

“Similar to our other collaborations with corporates, ANGI was subjected to stringent controls and proper procedures,” said Ashran.

“We uphold the highest standards of integrity in all of our programmes and the way in which we conduct our operations.” – Bernama, September 22, 2017.