SME Corp Malaysia Partners with Huawei to bring SMEs to the Forefront of a Digital Economy
2017.11.09
Kuala Lumpur, November 09, 2017 – At Huawei Asia Pacific Innovation Day, Huawei Technologies and SME Corp exchanged a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today in an effort to promote cooperation in areas of research, innovation and talent development for SMEs towards building the nation’s digital economy.
The event was attended by Abraham Liu, CEO of Huawei Technologies and Dato’ Lokman Hakim Ali, Dato’ Hafsah Hashim, CEO of SME Corp Malaysia, Dato’ Hafsah and YB Dato’ Seri Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan, Second International Trade and Industry Minister, and Mr Guo Ping, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Rotating CEO, Huawei were witnesses to the event.
Following the government’s announcement of Budget 2018, Malaysia will continue its focus on strengthening and developing its digital economy, catalyzing the shift from a labour intensive economy to a more knowledge-driven society. As a result of the MoU, both parties will work together to develop and implement initiatives designed to help boost digital transformation of SMEs as part of promoting a digital economy and stimulating greater economic growth across all industries.
SMEs constitute the majority of Malaysia’s economy at 99.2% making it the biggest contributor to the nation’s GDP. Industry leaders have predicted that digital transformation, will positively impact SMEs bringing vast opportunities such as economic growth, increased competition, productivity and innovation.
According to CEO of SME Corp Malaysia, Dato’ Hafsah Hashim, “We’re seeing a lot of incentives and policies to further push SMEs to engage and reap the benefits of digital economy. With an emerging focus on the new economy, we need to start thinking of competing globally and not just locally. Strategic partnerships with leading ICT experts such as Huawei are vital in building the capabilities of our SMEs, to ensure they remain competitive in meeting the economic challenges of today and tomorrow, and enhance their performance to be globally competitive. We are confident that today’s collaboration will help to steer SMEs on the path that leads Malaysia to achieve a high income nation status.”
As part of Huawei’s efforts to enable an innovative open platform, SMEs will be able to leverage on the ICT giant’s state of the art OpenLab facilities and take advantage of their expertise and support in developing and exploring ICT solutions for industry-specific challenges. They will also be given training and access to tap into Huawei’s global presence preparing for the digital economy.
Present at the exchange ceremony, CEO of Huawei Technologies, Abraham Liu shared, “In a digital economy, technologies are going to revolutionize business organisations, helping us execute our daily tasks better and faster. Huawei has always been committed to empowering young Malaysians by enhancing their digital skills in order to meet competitive industry-demands. In order to adapt for the future, we need to relook and reorganize traditional sectors especially in response to the changes brought about by the emerging digital economy. Through our programmes and knowledge, entrepreneurs and business leaders of SMEs will have the capability to create new business models based on greater cost-effectiveness that could not have existed in the past. As a partner, we want to help local small to medium scale enterprises transform to succeed in a digital economy.”
Lastly, as part of the partnership there will be joint collaboration for research paper on SMEs’ readiness for digital economy, encompassing readiness towards eCommerce, challenges and opportunities in the ICT and digital age, talent development, policies and infrastructure support.
The event was attended by Abraham Liu, CEO of Huawei Technologies and Dato’ Lokman Hakim Ali, Dato’ Hafsah Hashim, CEO of SME Corp Malaysia, Dato’ Hafsah and YB Dato’ Seri Ahmad Zahid bin Hamidi, Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan, Second International Trade and Industry Minister, and Mr Guo Ping, Deputy Chairman of the Board, Rotating CEO, Huawei were witnesses to the event.
Following the government’s announcement of Budget 2018, Malaysia will continue its focus on strengthening and developing its digital economy, catalyzing the shift from a labour intensive economy to a more knowledge-driven society. As a result of the MoU, both parties will work together to develop and implement initiatives designed to help boost digital transformation of SMEs as part of promoting a digital economy and stimulating greater economic growth across all industries.
SMEs constitute the majority of Malaysia’s economy at 99.2% making it the biggest contributor to the nation’s GDP. Industry leaders have predicted that digital transformation, will positively impact SMEs bringing vast opportunities such as economic growth, increased competition, productivity and innovation.
According to CEO of SME Corp Malaysia, Dato’ Hafsah Hashim, “We’re seeing a lot of incentives and policies to further push SMEs to engage and reap the benefits of digital economy. With an emerging focus on the new economy, we need to start thinking of competing globally and not just locally. Strategic partnerships with leading ICT experts such as Huawei are vital in building the capabilities of our SMEs, to ensure they remain competitive in meeting the economic challenges of today and tomorrow, and enhance their performance to be globally competitive. We are confident that today’s collaboration will help to steer SMEs on the path that leads Malaysia to achieve a high income nation status.”
As part of Huawei’s efforts to enable an innovative open platform, SMEs will be able to leverage on the ICT giant’s state of the art OpenLab facilities and take advantage of their expertise and support in developing and exploring ICT solutions for industry-specific challenges. They will also be given training and access to tap into Huawei’s global presence preparing for the digital economy.
Present at the exchange ceremony, CEO of Huawei Technologies, Abraham Liu shared, “In a digital economy, technologies are going to revolutionize business organisations, helping us execute our daily tasks better and faster. Huawei has always been committed to empowering young Malaysians by enhancing their digital skills in order to meet competitive industry-demands. In order to adapt for the future, we need to relook and reorganize traditional sectors especially in response to the changes brought about by the emerging digital economy. Through our programmes and knowledge, entrepreneurs and business leaders of SMEs will have the capability to create new business models based on greater cost-effectiveness that could not have existed in the past. As a partner, we want to help local small to medium scale enterprises transform to succeed in a digital economy.”
Lastly, as part of the partnership there will be joint collaboration for research paper on SMEs’ readiness for digital economy, encompassing readiness towards eCommerce, challenges and opportunities in the ICT and digital age, talent development, policies and infrastructure support.