Huawei Malaysia & Women Leadership Foundation Successfully Organised Inaugural ‘Sarawak Women Of Tomorrow (Swot)’ Bootcamp

[KUCHING, 25 MARCH 2022]: Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd (Huawei Malaysia) and the Women Leadership Foundation (WLF) successfully organised the ‘Sarawak Women of Tomorrow (SWOT)’ Bootcamp, held for the first time this year with the aim to facilitate and nurture women in leadership positions to be infused with additional prowess in technology, digitalisation, entrepreneurship, and sustainability to drive the Sarawak economy forward.

The event was graced by the Premier of Sarawak, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari Tun Datuk Abang Haji Openg and Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture (MOTAC), Dato' Sri Nancy Shukri while the Minister of Women, Early Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development of Sarawak, Dato’ Sri Fatimah Abdullah launched the event.

The Bootcamp attracted the participation of 29 top female leaders from Sarawak’s public and private sectors. With the theme ‘Sarawak Women Leaders Advancing Sustainability and Economic Growth via Digital Transformation’, the SWOT Bootcamp provided the platform for the female leaders to understand the importance of sustainability, digitalisation, and its benefits as well as insights into government policies in Sarawak.

The three-day programme, which was held from March 19 to March 21, at the Pullman Hotel in Kuching is part of Huawei Malaysia and WLF’s initiative in supporting the women leadership agenda in the country. Both organisations have reiterated their commitment to train the digital talent pool by crafting leadership and entrepreneurship programmes, which will contribute towards the progress of the women workforce in the nation.

In his closing speech, Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari said that the question of gender does not arise as it depends on the person who has that command of technology, because digitalisation does not distinguish between a woman and a man.

“The new leadership of tomorrow is someone who can command technology, who has the knowledge, to be in the position, as a leader. Gender equality is not an issue. It depends on the calibre and willingness of the person to explore new ideas.”

The Premier of Sarawak further said, “This is why since 2017, we work together with Huawei in terms of creating awareness and the use of digitalisation in our management. We have a collaboration coined as “XinHua” between the Centre of Technical Excellence Sarawak (CENTEXS) and Huawei. We also have a common platform to train our people on how to make use of digital transactions among us.”

Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Dr Abang Haji Abdul Rahman Zohari also handed out certificates to all the participants during the closing ceremony.

Meanwhile, the Minister of Tourism, Arts and Culture, Dato' Sri Nancy, who was also one of the key speakers who participated in a question and answer session at the Bootcamp which was moderated by Huawei Malaysia Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications Puan Rita Irina Abd Wahab, said that the right environment has to be created for people to prosper within the economic agenda. The MOTAC Minister, during her session, said, “Due to COVID-19, people are forced to learn and embrace technology even though there is still a lot of challenges. Therefore, the whole ecosystem needs to be transformed. Once a woman is empowered, you are empowering a whole nation.”

Datuk Dr Hafsah Hashim, Founder and Chairman of Women Leadership Foundation, in delivering her Welcoming Remarks, said, “It is for this very reason that WLF, Sarawak State Government and Huawei forged the partnership in ensuring that future-ready female leaders of Sarawak and Malaysia are equipped with the relevant technological skill sets in assisting them to make the right, fast and informed decisions, which will differentiate them from the rest of the leaders in their respective industries.”

CEO of Huawei Malaysia, Mr Michael Yuan emphasised that the SWOT Bootcamp is crucial in training and developing high-potential female talents in achieving new digital capabilities and skills.

“We believe that technology can empower women and develop the female talent pool that is critical in enhancing the workforce of today. That is what we at Huawei and the Women Leadership Foundation aim to do. We want to train the digital talent pool in the country and to help contribute towards the progress of the development of the women workforce and leadership as well as to help position the nation as the ASEAN Digital and Talent Hub,” added Mr Yuan. Among the top-notch speakers and panellists at the Bootcamp included Afke Schaart, Senior Vice-President, Global Government Affairs of Huawei; Datu Dr Sabariah Putit, Sarawak Deputy State Secretary, Performance Transformation and Service Delivery and Mr Fabian Bigar, Chief Executive Officer, MyDIGITAL Corporation and many more.

Huawei Malaysia and WLF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in October last year to collaborate in developing leadership programmes for female leaders in the country. The MoU involved the cross-sharing of experts in the field to provide insights for women on the latest trends and innovations with the development of advancing technologies.

Globally, Huawei has partnered with over 900 organisations and universities across the world and has dedicated programmes such Seeds for the Future, Tech Women’s Award, Huawei Women’s Development Programme and Huawei Spark. These programmes are carried out worldwide and have benefitted women across all backgrounds.