Cutting the cake : Tan Sri Noh Omar, Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Co-Operatives and Datuk William Ng, Chairman of SAMENTA
On 8 December 2021, the Small and Medium Enterprise Association of Malaysia (SAMENTA) celebrated its 35th Anniversary where Tan Sri Noh Omar, Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Co-Operatives, and Datuk William Ng, Chairman of SAMENTA both graced the ceremony by cutting a cake.
SAMENTA was established in the year 1986 by a group of SMEs’ in Penang, who were in support of the growing electronics industry. Currently, it is recognized as the oldest SME association and is well known for being the best association in the development of SMEs. According to them, SAMENTA has evolved to be the biggest SME association with a total of 3,000 members, and independent chapters covering every region in Malaysia.
Datuk William Ng stated that “When times are good, SMEs are generally expected to support the growth of our economy. But in difficult times, SMEs are often the last to receive support. This is why associations such as SAMENTA are important and needed as a voice for our fragmented SME factor.”
From the left: Surina Shukri, Dr Gopi Kurup, Puvanessan Subenthiran and Ganesh Kumar Bangah
He added that “SMEs are at a critical juncture right now. Our productivity and competitiveness have suffered due to the pandemic and rapid changes in technology and the market. As such, moving forward, our efforts will be to get our SMEs to adopt digitalization rapidly, move further into automation and understand the new standards for ESG (environmental, social and governance).”
Tan Sri Noh Omar, Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Co-Operatives and Datuk William Ng, Chairman of SAMENTA
In celebration of its 35th anniversary, SME CEO Forum 2021 was also organized to share knowledge and sentiments of the current and past scenarios of the the SME industry. The forum had a line of prominent guest speakers such as Datuk Dr Hafsah Hashim, former CEO of SME Corp; Surina Shukri, Former CEO of MDEC; Zaky Moh, Deputy of SME Corp; Shamarimaton Mat Salleh, Deputy CEO of MATRADE; Eric Chong, CEO of Boost Biz of Axiata Digital E-Code Sdn Bhd; Datuk Dr Hafsah Hashim, Director of SIRIM; Bikesh Lakhmichand, former CEO of SME Corp Malaysia; Nurbayu Kasim, Chief Business Officer of SME Bank;Chen Fong Tuan, Chief People Officer of Berjaya Corporation; Saliza Saari, Director of Malaysia Productivity Corporation; Sukri Abu Bakar, Director of Malaysian Investment Development Authority; Francesca Chia, Co-Founder & CEO of GoGet; Hafiza Anom Abdul Hamid, Chief Business Officer of Awanbiru Technology; Lim Kee Yeong, Executive Director of Affin Bank; Ganesh Kumar Bangah, Chairman of Commerce.Asia; Azim Pawanchik, Innovation Strategist of Alpha Catalyst Consulting; Leon Liew, Chief Strategy Officer of Solarvest Holdings; Low Ngai Yuen, Chief Merchandising Officer of AEON Group; and many other industry captains and presidents from various trade associations were present for the SME CEO Forum 2021. YB Fahmi Fadzil, MP Lembah Pantai; YB Dr Ong Kian Ming, MP Bangi and Dato’ Dr. Asyraf Wajdi, UMNO Youth Chief also made a signature panel appearance during the forum session, which excited all the participants at the conference.
