SMEs can learn to use data to grow businesses
PETALING JAYA: Staying ahead of the game by tapping into new opportunities is a hard task for any business, but the challenge is especially tough for smaller companies with limited resources.
Realising the need for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to access knowledge and gain advice on manoeuvring hurdles and forging a path forward for their businesses, Star Media Group is taking the lead with its latest initiative, the SME Thought Leadership 2019.
Focusing on current and emerging issues faced by SMEs, the year-long series will consist of inspirational talks, panel discussions and intimate networking sessions by experts and industry leaders.
It will also provide SMEs with valuable insights from the perspective of successful key business figures in their respective fields.
“The SME Thought Leadership 2019 series was created to provide a learning platform for dialogue and learning among the business fraternity.
“Through the series, we hope to dissect emerging issues and identify opportunities that can be leveraged on to grow businesses,” said Star Media Group chief content officer Esther Ng.
Providing its support to the SME Thought Leadership 2019 series is CIMB Bank Bhd.
A leader in SME business solutions, the bank recently announced its commitment to disburse at least RM15bil in the next two years to help finance 100,000 SMEs in the country.
CIMB Bank will also focus on easing access to financing below RM500,000 for micro SMEs, in line with the government’s push for an entrepreneur-friendly and enabling environment to boost the country’s economy, said CIMB Group commercial banking chief executive officer Victor Lee Meng Teck (pic).
In addition, CIMB has committed to spending more than RM300mil to strengthen its digital proposition for SMEs to create an end-to-end digital journey.
“We will improve our products, services and user experience, in an effort to not only power up SMEs’ growth but also facilitate their day-to-day operations.
“To further our support for SMEs, CIMB is collaborating with Star Media Group to provide insights and sharing from successful entrepreneurs, experts and specialists to provide startups and budding business owners with an edge in taking their enterprise to the next level,” said Lee.
The first forum in the series is titled Discover New Business Opportunities Through Big Data. It is a half-day event to be held on May 2 (8am-2pm) at Menara Star.
Admission is free.
In a world where data is the name of the game, the forum will focus on enabling SMEs to leverage the latest technology and trends in big data and data analytics, so that they are able to thrive and remain competitive in today’s world.
Speakers such as Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation CEO Surina Shukri, Malaysia Retail Chain Association deputy secretary-general Datuk Bruce Lim, Fusionex International new technology managing director Isaac Jacob, Socar Malaysia CEO Leon Sing Foong and Star Media Group analytics senior general manager Freddy Loo will share knowledge on the topic.
CIMB SME Banking head Jaya Balan Kathiravalu, commercial banking head Yew Teik Beng and group chief marketing officer Mohamed Adam Wee Abdullah will also be in attendance.
Over the years, Star Media Group – a strong proponent of SMEs – has established itself as an authoritative foothold in the community through insightful business reports and
analysis, as well as events such as The Star Outstanding Business Awards (Soba) and The Star SMEBiz ThinkTank.
The SME Thought Leadership 2019 series is organised by Star Media Group and presented by CIMB Bank Bhd. Admission is free. Go to http://bit.ly/thought
leadershipforum or scan the QR code to register for the first forum.
Source : TheStar
