Equipping businesses in the northern region
BUSINESS owners in the northern region will be able to glean from the experiences of industry experts as the first of this year’s Learning Series workshops takes off in Penang this Thursday.
The workshop, held in conjuntion with The Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) 2017, will take place on July 6 at The Star Pitt Street, George Town, from 9am to 1pm.
The Learning Series workshops will feature industry leaders from Digi, AmBank Group, Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF), Credit Guarantee Corp (CGC) and Matrade who will share insights on pressing issues such as managing talents in SMEs, financial solutions in a changing business landscape, effective and efficient ways to digitalise SME businesses, potential pitfalls and derailments in the SME industry as well as platforms to expand businesses abroad.
Workshop participants will also get the opportunity to hear from Acestar Sdn Bhd chief executive officer Natalie Sit who will be speaking on “Entrepreneurship is not just business but leadership”.
Acestar took home the Most Promising award at SOBA 2015 and last year, the company won the Silver award for Best Employer in the “Up to RM25mil” revenue category while Sit won Female Entrepreneur of the Year.
The workshop in Penang will be followed by a stop in Ipoh, Perak on July 18 at the Star Ipoh bureau.
In Ipoh, ExcelVite Sdn Bhd chief executive officer WH Leong will touch on the company’s success in bringing its locally produced palm phytonutrients to the global market.
ExcelVite is currently the largest producer of tocotrienol and mixed-carotene complex in the world and has been supplying these phytonutrients to dietary supplement, functional food and cosmetic companies worldwide.
The company took home the Rising Star award at SOBA 2016.
Following that, the Learning Series workshop will be heading to Johor on July 20 at New York Hotel, Johor Baru.
The Johor workshop will feature talks from industry experts as well as sharing sessions by vet- eran entrepreneurs, namely Feruni Ceramiche Sdn Bhd managing director Datuk CC Ngei and MK Wedding Sdn Bhd group managing director Datuk Calvin Khiu.
The final workshop for the year will be held in Petaling Jaya, Selangor on July 27.
Entry for the SOBA Learning Series is free of charge but seats are limited. Interested participants are encouraged to register at www.soba.com.my to secure a seat on a first-come-first-served basis.
There will also be a SOBA Helpdesk session at the Learning Series workshops. Those who are seeking more information about the awards can speak to the staff on site to find out more.
SOBA is open to all local enterprises that are not part of a multinational group or listed group and are incorporated in Malaysia with foreign equity not exceeding 50%. Those who wish to participate may obtain the Awards submission pack from The Star or download the forms from the website.
Deadline for entries is Oct 13, 2017.
SOBA 2017 is organised by Star Media Group with AmBank, DiGi and HRDF as main sponsors, CGC as co-sponsor, Matrade as official trade promotion partner and Connexion Conference & Event Centre as official venue sponsor.
It is endorsed by the Secretariat for the Advancement of Malaysian Entrepreneurs (SAME), Prime Minister’s Department, and the Finance and International Trade and Industry ministries.
It is supported by Bursa Malaysia and audited by BDO, with 988, SuriaFM and dimsum as official media partners.
For enquiries, call The Star Events Business Unit at 03-7967 1388 ext 1432 (Jasmine)/ 1657 (Victor) or visit www.soba.com.my