‘ALIBABA WILL HELP YOUTH BUSINESSES’
Youth entrepreneurs must have quality, creative products, says minister
FAREZZA HANUM RASHID SHAH ALAM news@nst.com.my
ENTERPRISING youth will be able sell their products to more people with the involvement of Alibaba Group founder and executive chairman Jack Ma in the digital economy in Malaysia.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan said youth with small businesses, especially from rural areas, had a platform to widen their market reach through Ma’s Alibaba.
“Now, our youth need to make more quality and creative products to go big in their businesses,” he said after launching the third Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) annual summit yesterday.
The summit was co-organised by Yayasan Peneraju Pendidikan Bumiputera and Universiti Teknologi Mara’s Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences.
Ma is an adviser to the government in its digital economy aspirations.
Earlier, Rahman said the nation was facing a talent shortage to cater for the knowledge-intensive and high-income economy.
“Naturally, CFA charterholders are in high demand in the financial services and investment sector.”
He said they had been forecast to contribute up to RM122 billion to the gross national income by 2020, with a targeted annual growth of between eight and 10 per cent.
“Malaysia has 679 charterholders, which is low compared with other Asian nations, like Hong Kong (7,025) and Singapore (3,614).”
Rahman said more analysts, portfolio managers and investment bankers were needed.
“I encourage students from non-traditional fields (actuarial science, mathematics, economics and statistics) to take up CFA and go into banking and investment.”