New award up for grabs at SOBA 2018
Best Use of Technology category introduced to keep up with the times
PETALING JAYA: It is time again for businesses to vie for the country’s top business awards as The Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) return for the ninth year.
In keeping up with the times, SOBA 2018 will be introducing a new category – Best Use of Technology – to benchmark enterprises in the effective use and integration of technology into their business.
The new award will encourage more SMEs to look into the importance of technology to have an edge in the marketplace.
SOBA 2018 also welcomed, for the first time, RHB Banking Group as a main sponsor and New World Petaling Jaya Hotel as the official venue.
Additionally, DiGi, PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd and Credit Guarantee Corporation have returned as sponsors of the award and Matrade as official trade promotion partner.
“SOBA is a collective effort by Star Media Group in recognising home-grown enterprises and their contributions to the country’s economy.
“These awards are not just given to companies that do well in their bottomlines but to companies that are at the forefront of the industries they are in,” said Star Media Group Bhd group managing director and chief executive officer Datuk Seri Wong Chun Wai at the launch of SOBA 2018 yesterday.
Wong noted that the last eight years of SOBA have uncovered many success stories of small ventures gone big.
“When you hear these stories, it makes you feel proud to be a Malaysian. They grew by pure hard work.
“As SOBA goes on, we will continue to see more of these stories unearthed,” he said.
The awards will continue to have two broad categories – one for enterprises with a turnover of over RM25mil and another for those generating less than that per annum.
SOBA has eight top of the class awards, namely Best in Marketing, Best Brand, Best in CSR, Best Green Initiative, Best Employer, Best Innovation, Best Global Market and Best Use of Technology.
There are three “Outstanding Achievement” awards – Rising Star, Entrepreneur of the Year (male/female/young) and Malaysian Business of the Year.
The awards pay tribute to enterprises striving to carve a niche for themselves in the world of business.
These awards aim to inspire, drive and also steer them towards greater success, as well as promote business excellence and stimulate positive competition.
SOBA is open to all local enterprises that are not part of a multinational group or listed group 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 microsite at www.soba.com.my. Deadline for entries is Oct 19.
SOBA 2018 is organised by The Star with DiGi, PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd and RHB Banking Group as main sponsors, Credit Guarantee Corporation as co-sponsor, Matrade as official trade promotion partner and New World Petaling Jaya Hotel as official venue.
It is endorsed by the International Trade and Industry Ministry, supported by Bursa Malaysia and audited by BDO with 988, SuriaFM and dimsum as official media partners.
For more information, call The Star Events Business Unit at 03-7967 1388 ext 1432 (Jasmine) / 1857 (Pei Wen) or visit www.soba.com.my.