3 SMEs emerge as top winners

PETALING JAYA: Three local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have emerged as top winners at AmBank BizRACE Season 2.

AmBank Group managing director (business banking) Christopher Yap said the business challenge aimed not only to assist SMEs financially, but also to help them develop businesses sustainably.

“Our aim is to help SMEs scale and grow. We would like to applaud all Season 2 AmBank BizRACE winners. They had showcased outstanding drive and tenacity. We trust their achievements will pave the way to take their businesses to greater heights.

“We hope more SMEs will be inspired by them and join us next year for Season 3,” he said on the challenge which had received more than 1,000 registrations.

An AmBank BizRace gala dinner was held to celebrate the top 30 participants and was attended by AmBank Group chairman Tan Sri Azman Hashim and group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir, among others.

The AmBank BizRACE 2019 winners are PTT Outdoor (Malaysia) which won AmBank Business of the Year 2019, followed by the AMS Metal Group and Cloudhax (Ticket2U) as the first and second runner-up, respectively.

The winners won a Media Prima Bhd media package worth up to RM250,000, executive development sessions by UTM Azman Hashim International Business School worth RM13,000 and a United Kingdom executive development programme, including Cambridge Judge Business School programme, and a business networking session worth up to RM265,000.

The Microsoft Digital Transformation Award awarded Cloudhax (Ticket2U) RM50,000 worth of technology solutions, Media Prima Best Marketing Strategy Award was awarded to Shapee Trading and provides a media package worth RM30,000, while the UTM-Azman Hashim International Business School (AHIBS) Executive Education Award presented PTT Outdoor (Malaysia) a training package worth RM 21,000.

A hundred participants were shorlisted to 10 for the final pitching session. The top three were selected after presenting their business plans to the AmBank BizRACE panel of judges.

The top five companies each won one seat of a field trip in China to experience and learn the best practices from internationally-renowned organisations.

The top 30 finalists were presented with a four-day development programme.

AmBank BizRACE official partners include Media Prima, UTMAHIBS, Microsoft Malaysia, Ernst & Young and MasterCard.