KUALA LUMPUR, 12 MARCH 2019: YB Gobind Singh Deo, Minister of Multimedia &Communica- tions Malaysia today launched the 2nd Business Excellence Awards (hereafter referred to as “Awards”), signalling the opening of nominations for participating companies. The Awards, organ- ised by the British Malaysian Chamber of Commerce (BMCC) is a prestigious annual flagship event designed to recognise the best of companies and individuals across a range of achievement categories from the UK and Malaysia.
The launch of the Awards was held in conjunction with the Digital Innovation Conference 2019 held here today in Kuala Lumpur with the aim of advancing thought and preparations amongst industry leaders towards the digital economy. This conference themed “Working with Tomorrow Technology Today” was organised by the BMCC, sponsored by HSBC Malaysia and supported by the British High Commission Kuala Lumpur, InvestKL and MDEC.
It consisted of a series of informative talks and discussions by YB Gobind Singh Deo (Minister of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia), YB Dr. Ong Kian Ming (Deputy Minister of In- ternational Trade & Industry Malaysia), Aireen Omar (Deputy Group CEO, Digital & Techology, AirAsia), Dato’ Ng Wan Peng (Chief Operating Officer, MDEC) and industry leaders from HSBC, IBM Malaysia, TM, NEM Malaysia, Chatbot Malaysia, Capital DK and the Global Center of Ex- cellence Iskandar Malaysia.
Communications and Multimedia Minister YB Gobind Singh Deo has stated that his Ministry is in discussions with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to formulate a digital economy policy that is expected to be announced in Q3 of 2019. Whilst Malaysia is already one of the most connected societies in the world with an estimated 80% of the population having access to the in- ternet, the Minister acknowledges a digital divide where the nation lags behind international stan- dards when it comes to digital adoption by businesses. The purpose of this conference was thus to raise awareness and business confidence towards adopting digital transformation, especially amongst the SME communities.
PUBLIC
In this vein, YB Gobind Singh officiated the 2nd Business Excellence Awards which revolves around the focuses of SMEs and Technology & Innovation. A total of seven (7) Award categories are now open for nominations. This include the UK-Malaysia Business of the Year, UK-Malaysia Partnership Award, UK-Malaysia Business Personality Award, Social Enterprise of the Year and Diversity & Inclusion Award.
New to the Awards this year is the introduction of a new category, the SME of the Year, purposed to provide recognition and elevation for Small to Medium Enterprises and its contributions towards the overall economic growth of the country. Making a return from 2018 is the Innovation Awards, acknowledging companies that are pioneering new ideas through technological innovations.
Jennifer Lopez, Executive Director of the BMCC said, “This year, the BMCC has set for itself two well-defined themes and focuses. Firstly, we aim to support the growth of Small & Medium Enter- prises, both here in Malaysia and in the UK. The BMCC particularly recognises the importance of SMEs and their contribution to the overall economy and the potential they carry in going to thrive as multi-billion-dollar enterprises.”
“Our second theme for 2019 is in the championing of digitalisation and technological innovations. The BMCC believes that digital economy is playing a crucial role in Malaysia’s journey towards be- coming a high-income, developed-status nation. Today’s Digital Innovation Conference is one such example of our strides towards this focus, and we look to giver further emphasis of technology’s importance by means of our popular Innovation Award at our Business Excellence Awards in June. We received many nominations for this category last year, and we hope to build upon this encour- aging response in 2019,” she said.
HSBC, the Main Sponsor of the Digital Innovation Conference also marks a return as the Title Sponsor of the BMCC’s 2nd Business Excellence Awards. HSBC is committed to driving digital in- novation to meet the changing needs and demands of customers. Last May, HSBC made strides towards transforming traditional trade financing by performing the world’s FIRST commercial Let- ters of Credit transaction under Blockchain (a type of Distributed Ledger Technology) for a ship- ment coming through Malaysia.
Andrew Sill, Country Head of Commercial Banking, HSBC Malaysia and Chairman of the BMCC said, “At HSBC, we continue to leverage on technology and innovation to provide customers with digital products and services that are simple, convenient and secure. Trade in Asia is growing, es- pecially intra-regional trade and HSBC sees this as the perfect opportunity to implement new tech- nologies like Blockchain, to remove pain points (like paper documentation) and make trade more efficient and cheaper.”
PUBLIC
“In January 2019, HSBC Malaysia launched the HSBCnet Trade Transaction Tracker, a pre-logon service in the HSBCnet Mobile app for customers to track the real time status of trade transactions quickly and easily. This innovative banking app is the first of its kind in Malaysia, putting exporters and importers in Malaysia at the forefront of digital capabilities in tracking international trade trans- actions,” added Andrew.
The BMCC’s 2nd Business Excellence Awards is now open for nominations, leading up to the Awards Gala Night in June 2019. For more nominations and more information, visit www.bmc- c.org.my
No comments:
Post a Comment