PM Najib on Transforming Malaysia SMEs: Remake of the business model

SINGAPORE (18 April 2011) – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has urged small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to adopt technology as a core strategic component to gain sustainable competitive edge as Malaysia undergoes Transformation steered by the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP). The PM noted that SMEs, comprising a whopping 92% of Malaysia’s business sector were generally slow on the uptake of technology.

“By embracing technology, operational costs will be more effective and be more profitable in the long-term. The SMEs must adapt to the changes and be more innovative,” said Teh Kee Sin, deputy president of SME Association of Malaysia. It’s time the country’s 10,000 SMEs acknowledge that cutting-edge technology is essential to maintaining global competitiveness.

Najib emphasised that, “Unless we introduce a ‘game changer’, we will be caught in a middle-income trap whereby we are no longer as competitive on cost as some countries.” Competing on advanced technology rather cost differentials is central in enabling Malaysia to make the quantum leap from US$7,000 per capita annual income to US$15,000 within the next ten years.

The Malaysian Innovation Agency Act 2010 was enacted to facilitate the radical technology-related transitions of SMEs whereas the Malaysian Innovation Agency is the statutory body under which all innovative activities are centralised. Still in its drafting process, the National Innovation Policy aims to provide a unifying framework and guidelines.

Furthermore, Special Innovation Unit (Unik) was established to assist SMEs in innovating for their businesses. Launched as an initiative under the Prime Minister’s Office, Unik aims to introduce new technologies to SMEs. Already, Unik has searched universities and research institutes and identified technologies suitable for adoption by SMEs. This is the first step in achieving the “game of the impossible” and to “manage the present from the future point of view” according to Datuk Seri Idris Jala, Minister in Prime Minister’s Department and CEO of Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu).

In an age of rapid change and development, remaking the business model for SMEs navigating complex growth markets not only involves adequate adoption of technology but also calls for refocusing on talent management and succession planning in deriving critical sources of competitive advantage that cannot be replicated by competitors, both local ones and those abroad.

In this critical transition, Malaysian SMEs ask themselves:
• What are the long-term advantages of remaking our business model?
• What are our key competitive advantages? And they sustainable?
• Are existing mechanisms and systems adequate in supporting technological transition?
• Is enough being done for talent management and succession planning?

Malaysia’s top SMEs, regional MNCs and even government agencies who are major employers will be using a unique opportunity to proactively remodel business and HR strategies and secure new competitive advantage in Malaysia’s quickening growth market at the HR Talk Show’s A-list CEO-level panels come Wednesday, 25 May 2011 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The HR Talk Show series is a high-impact interactive platform bridging the gap between government and business initiatives to drive human capital best practices and actionable insights into talent, technology and strategic HR. In a unique talk show format, CEOs, HR Directors, CIOs/CTOs and their CFOs from Malaysia’s most admired companies will be working with 400 participants to interactively walk through the most current human capital challenges in a fast-growing economy like Malaysia’s to ensure that the most important leaders in businesses and public organisations can:
• Drive improved talent productivity and leadership succession
• Cast off accident-prone legacy strategies for talent management
• Secure proper methodologies to evaluate and implement HR technology and services
• Resume their strategic roles with a greater clarity of thought and vision
all with the aim to support, harmonise and put into action the initiatives from both government and private sector to transform and grow Malaysia into a high-income economy and grow the local highly-skilled workforce to 33 percent by 2015 and 50 percent by 2020 as outlined in the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP).

The series is organised by the Center for Business Strategy and Tactics and promoted by Arc Media Global with a high-profile network of international and local partners and supporting organisations, including sponsors Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise, Northgate Arinso, and Ramco Systems; exhibitors KZEN Solutions, StepStone Solutions, Orenda, and Business Formula Adaptive Partnerships; and strategic partners Corporate Executive Board, World HRD Congress, and Young Business Owners – ASEAN; among many others. Please call the production team at +65 6844 2080, email hrtalkshow@arcmediaglobal.com or visit the official website www.arcmediaglobal.com/hrtalkshow for details on programme, attendees, and other key features of the May 2011 talk show.

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If you’d like more information about this topic, or to schedule an interview with the speakers at the HR Talk Show,
please call Eunice Wee at (+65) 6844 2080 or email Eunice at hrtalkshow@arcmediaglobal.com


Keywords: SMEs, 10MP, game changer, middle-income trap, Malaysian Innovation Agency, Unik, Pemandu, business model, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak, 10th Malaysia Plan, Teh Kee Sin, SME Association of Malaysia, technology, National Innovation Policy, Special Innovation Unit, Datuk Seri Idris Jala, Performance Management and Delivery Unit, Pemandu, competitive advantage, HR Talk Show, Center for Business Strategy and Tactics, CBST, Center for Business, Arc Media Global, AMG, Oracle PeopleSoft Enterprise, Northgate Arinso, Ramco Systems, KZEN Solutions, StepStone Solutions, Orenda, Business Formula, Adaptive Partnerships, Corporate Executive Board, CEB, World HRD Congress, Young Business Owners, YBO, ASEAN

The Center for Business Strategy and Tactics (Center for Business) is an industry research centre (IRC) that works to bring top executives together in communities of learning and practice to act as a catalyst for generating high-value energy business insight and channel top expertise to where the world needs it most. Center for Business meetings are powered by Arc Media Global, a B2B/G2B integrated international marketing specialist headquartered in Singapore.

Arc Media Global
Robinson Road. PO Box 176. Singapore 900326
Eunice Wee : hrtalkshow@arcmediaglobal.com
+65 6844 2080

This release was published on openPR.