SOBA begins new chapter with C-level talk

THE first Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) CEO PowerTalk provided an excellent platform for small and medium- sized enterprises (SMEs) to learn from each other through knowledge and sharing opportunities.

Star Media Group (SMG) chief executive officer Alex Yeow, who was present, added that the event “… provides an excellent opportunity for business owners to expand their network.”

The PowerTalk held at Menara Star, Petaling Jaya, on Oct 23, was attended mainly by business owners who ranged from managing directors to chief executive officers and founders.

It will form part of the overarching drive for SOBA as it aims to launch The Leaders Council initiative, which will empower corporate leadership teams and drive engagement among C-suites of various organisations through a series of special events.

Discussion in the first session with (from left) Doreenn, Low and Ong, which focused on branding and agility within a work culture.

These will lead up to the Star CEO Awards, where visionary and prominent corporate figures in industries gather to meet and exchange industry insights as well as business opportunities.

In Yeow’s opening speech, he pointed out that businesses, especially SMEs, continue to remain the backbone of Malaysia’s economy as they become close to 38% of the country’s GDP.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, many still continue to face challenges.

“Nevertheless, you have shown resilience with a good dose of agility in adapting to change while at the same time leveraging on the various initiatives to improve business performance.

The team from Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia offering financial advice and development schemes and programmes to SMEs, to help their businesses.

“We hope that the SOBA CEO PowerTalk series will give you the added impetus to aim for greater growth prospects, be it in Malaysia, the region or globally.”

The first session of the PowerTalk delved into “Building a lasting brand and adopting a culture of agility”.

Moderated by StarBiz deputy news editor Doreenn Leong, the session had speakers ZCOVA Sdn Bhd director and co-founder Low Ziwei and KIP Real Estate Investment (REIT) Trust Management Sdn Bhd executive director cum CEO Valerie Ong Pui Shan present their views and experiences on how they expanded their branding and the importance of agility in their organisations.

In the second session, Doreenn led Acestar Sdn Bhd group CEO Natalie Sit and Majestic Emerald Sdn Bhd director Cheri Leong down the rabbit hole with the topic “Innovative strategies for business expansion”.

Representatives from Matrade offering some of the services that will assist SMEs in their plans to expand overseas.

In addition to the two sessions, sponsors RHB Bank Berhad and CelcomDigi Berhad presented the audience with solutions for their businesses.

RHB Bank’s SME Retail, business development head Tay Tze Joe introduced the bank’s loan financing application called the RHB Financing SME App, which streamlines and simplifies loan processing for SMEs in three simple steps, with approval response within two days.

He emphasised the importance of environmental, social and governance (ESG) integration in businesses today, and RHB Bank’s ESG financing solution.

Meanwhile, CelcomDigi senior corporate account manager Vivian Soh Wei Mei shared that the telco has recently launched its new logo and has a subscriber base of over 20 million customers.

She introduced CelcomDigi’s digitalisation solution by saying that many SMEs are wary of technology, fearing that once implemented, it will become an unnecessary cost that they cannot properly grasp or control.

However, Soh touched on the benefits of using cloud as a way to run businesses remotely, in combination with workspaces from Google and Microsoft.

Outside, sponsor booths by CelcomDigi and RHB Bank were also joined by Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Berhad (CGG Berhad), PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd and Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (Matrade).

The SOBA CEO PowerTalk is part of SOBA 2023, which is organised by Star Media Group with CelcomDigi Berhad, CGC Berhad, PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd and RHB Bank Berhad as main sponsors, and Matrade as the official trade promotion partner.

Supported by Bursa Malaysia, SOBA is audited by BDO while radio stations 988 and Suria are official media partners.

To take part in SOBA 2023 or for more information, call SMG Events (017-231 1789) or go to www.soba.com.my