Article by:

Dato’ Ts. Dr. Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab FASc
Chief Executive Officer
Cybersecurity Malaysia

Cybersecurity Challenges that Small and Medium Enterprises Faced and Its Way Forward

INTRODUCTION

The government has embarked on a progressive program that assists the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) to grow and prosper in the very challenging business environment. The SMEs are normally family-run businesses or traditionally run enterprises which manage local and traditional products and sometimes these enterprises are being carried out from their family houses or abodes. As reported in the 12th Malaysia National Plan, SME has contributed 38.2 percent or RM512.8 billion to GDP and so far, the development of SMEs has grown steadily over the years. In fact, some of the SMEs had managed to expand their businesses and became successful in terms of output and profitability.

With the advent of the Digital Economy as envisaged by the government and promoted by the Malaysian Digital Economic Corporation (MDEC), the challenge faced by the government is to encourage the SMEs to embrace the digital technology as the way forward in line with the current technology brought forth by the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0). The other challenge that the government is facing is to inform the SMEs to be aware and embrace the cybersecurity culture as a means to protect their businesses from potential cyber-threats and cyber-attacks.

THE DIGITAL WORLD

The global population currently stands at 7.77 billion people and there are currently 4.6 billion Internet users globally. That is already a healthy 59.20 percent of the total population. As of January 2021, there were already 27.43 million Internet users in Malaysia. In addition, the Internet penetration in the country has stood at 84.2 percent.

The statistics mentioned above shows that today, the world is highly connected to the Internet. Furthermore, there has been an increasing reliance on the information and communications technology (ICT) as a vital tool for nations to progress economically, socially, and politically. Increasing connectivity via the Internet facilitates the vast potential for knowledge-sharing and wealth creation, as well as providing opportunities for increasing prosperity among the citizens.

With a faster Internet connection, it enables the business organisation to intensify its business by venturing into a variety of e-activities such as e-commerce, e-training, e-procurement, e-learning, and e-tendering. In the digital economy, faster internet connection and highly reliable network connectivity augurs very well in ensuring that business transactions and trade are done seamlessly online. The Internet also improves organisational productivity, enhance efficiencies, reduces costs, enables the production of more goods and services as well as foster innovation. It also fosters economic growth for the country.

As a result of Malaysia’s Internet and mobile connectivity, Malaysia has a high rate of e-commerce usage. The e-commerce industry has grown into one of Malaysia’s most significant and competitive industries. Malaysia presents a unique opportunity for businesses as 75 percent of Internet users spend their money via e-commerce, with 58 percent spending through mobile commerce platforms. Based on a report by the Department of Statistic of Malaysia, e-commerce grew 23.3 percent year-on-year to RM267.6 million in the second quarter of 2021. Revenue is also expected to show an annual growth rate of 15.32 percent, resulting in a projected market volume of USD11.35 million by 2025.

MALAYSIA’S DIGITAL ECONOMIC INITIATIVES

The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) account for about 97.2 percent of Malaysia’s total business establishments in 2020 and contribute over 38.3 percent of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). SMEs’ shares to total employment and exports of the country are at 66.2 percent and 17.3 percent respectively. Based on the industry’s contribution to the country’s GDP and employment opportunities, it is very important to recognise the pivotal role that SMEs play in our economy.

In order to spur the digital economic growth, the government had launched several programs and initiatives with the aim of enhancing the SMEs ability in harnessing the Internet and the various online economic platforms. The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) currently offer four solutions for SMEs. The solutions are SME Business Digitalisation Grant, 100 Go Digital, SMART Automation Grant (SAG) and Digital Xccelerator. Through these programs and grant, the SMEs can grow and rake the benefits by:

a. Learning new digital skills.

b. Enhancing the customer experience.

c. Increasing business efficiency.

d. Gaining new market.

e. To potentially reduce the operating cost.

f. Providing free promotion for businesses.

The Department of Statistics, Malaysia (DOSM) conducted a Special Survey Effects of COVID-19 on Economy and Companies / Businesses Firms showed 67.8 percent reported no revenue during this period, a small portion of 12.3 percent generated their sales via online, while 9.8 percent still earned their sales through physical shops. Therefore, SMEs in Malaysia must transit towards the digital era. This is to ensure most SMEs are not left behind and prepared for any potential cyber-attacks that will be coming.

SME CYBERSECURITY CHALLENGES

The global cybersecurity landscape has evolved with the emergence of Industry 4.0, Big Data, Cloud Computing, Quantum Computing, Autonomous Vehicle, Nanotechnology, Fintech, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Internet of Things (IoTs) devices, Bring Your Own Device (BYOD), etc.

The advent of digital technology offers a lot of advantages especially to businesses, SMEs included. Among the changes that occurred including the cashless transaction, the introduction of e-wallet, advanced security verification, online shopping, mobile banking and a few others. For major businesses, the gradual migration to digital technology is seen as a means for better business and seamless transaction that could make managing business reliable, convenient, and transparent.

However, for most, if not all the SMEs, the rapid changes brought by the development of technology was overwhelming, to say the least. Most of the SMEs are cottage-based industries or family-run businesses and most of the owners are not really tech-savvy. Hence, the move towards the digital technology is overwhelming and looks so insurmountable to some of the SMEs owners. Despite the convenience of doing business with the digital technology and the Internet, most of the SMEs owners believed the adoption and migration to the digital technology would cause further expenses for them.

CAUSES AND CONCERNS

The path towards full digitalization or reaching 4th Industrial Revolution era contains various degree of challenges and risks. And the most common one is cybersecurity and the threats it poses. Cybersecurity is ingrained in today’s environment but many do not know the existence and the practical uses within the organisations and nations.

Figure 1: MyCERT Cybersecurity Incident Statistics

There are challenges and downsides of the Internet toward certain individuals, groups, institutions, organisation, and nation-states as a whole. These concerns also include the SMEs, of which among the major concerns is that SMEs are perceived to be lacking in information security awareness which results in the haphazard management of their information and digital assets.

What SMEs and other businesses concern and fear the most in recent years are business disruptions that are caused by cyber incidents, threats and attacks. Thus, cybersecurity is always an issue for the business organisation. Most Malaysians still have doubts about doing business online because they have trust issues when conducting business virtually. This is one of the setbacks that hinder the implementation of digital technology especially to the SMEs.

CYBER-RELATED INCIDENCES

There were many cyber-related incidents that occurred in the past few years in Malaysia, affecting not just the citizens but also organisations that could be detrimental to their brands, reputation and trust among the customers and stakeholders.

Figure 2: SME being attacked more frequently

Emerging cyber-threats have become a lot more sophisticated, disastrous; and pose serious risks and challenges to individuals and nations. Some of the cyber-threat actors that are against SMEs are hackers, employees, compromised internal accounts, third party contractors, business partners, business competitors, organized crime groups, terrorist, foreign governments, etc. Apart from that, SMEs are concerned with personal identity theft and cyber-attacks that affect the businesses’ confidential data, privacy, and money.

Figure 3: Why SMEs are common targets for cyber-criminals

The common type of cyber-attacks against SMEs are physical theft, access abuse, phishing attacks, social engineering, data breach, supply chain attacks, insider threats, malware attacks, ransomware attacks, Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, Internet of Things (IOTs) hacking, biometric hacking, chatbot hacking and etc.

NEW NORMAL, NEW PARADIGM

The rapid growth of e-commerce recently was due to the COVID-19 pandemic which forced most businesses to go digital and conduct businesses online using the various available platforms. Since 2020 when the first cases of COVID-19 were detected, most malls, shops and businesses were forced to close during the Movement Control Order (MCO). This had forced businesses to embrace the new normal of doing business online instead of the brick-and-mortar physical shops.

Digitisation of their organisation was not a priority before the COVID-19 crisis hit, due to cost factors and lack of immediate need. But as a result of the pandemic, some of these businesses have had to unexpectedly fast-track their digital transformation journey in order to survive. Limited experience in adopting new technology and its security, along with the massive shift to remote working due to lockdown, has made SMEs vulnerable to an increased threat of cyber-attacks.

CYBERSECURITY MEASURES FOR SMES

There are a few cybersecurity measures that can be taken into consideration to protect the SMEs. Firstly, the leaders and employers have to set an example of following an effective and standardised cybersecurity best practices. The SMEs also need to strengthen its authorization and access control of their premises and also their system network. SMEs should also control physical access to their computers and create user accounts for each employee.

The SMEs should also limit their employee access to data and information and also seek advice on the relevant software to be used into their corporate devices and systems. SMEs should also monitor their system, set up firewall, alerts or red flags for any suspicious activities. This is to protect their information, computers, and their system networks from any cyber-attacks. They also need to update and back-up their files regularly.

SMEs need to embrace and engage with cybersecurity awareness program and employees need to participate in cybersecurity awareness training that the employers conducted. Other than that, they need to create a mobile device action plan, apply strong passwords, and have an authentication policy in place and to be implemented as soon as possible.

SMEs need to adopt a more adaptive, innovative, aggressive, and proactive approaches to stay ahead of cyber-threats. SMEs are encouraged to effectively face the challenges with dynamic approaches, inter-agency cooperation, and strengthening the public-private partnerships. Besides, the need for cybersecurity encompassing people, process and technology is rather critical and such need will continue to grow in many more years to come. All in all, there is an urgent necessity to enhance domestic and international collaboration in information sharing, practical legal and technical approaches, capacity building and cybersecurity awareness and education.

ADOPTING CYBER RESILIENCE

In this complex and connected digital age, traditional cybersecurity measures are no longer enough. There is no 100 percent security for a public and private organisation, academia, and a country as a whole. It is no longer the question of how to secure oneself from being attack. It is just a matter of time or when they will suffer cyberattack. It is better to assume they will eventually break through the organisation’s defences.

More importantly, the organisation should work on a strategy to reduce the impact of cyber-attacks. This is called being cyber resilient. Therefore, Malaysia, as a nation, has successfully adopted a holistic approach to enhance the security of its cyber environment. While at the same time, as part of the global community, Malaysia also aims to strengthen its international cooperation to respond to global cyber challenges. With such an approach, we hope to be able to benefit and take the advantage of a secure, resilient, and trusted cyber environment.

Enterprises today need to adopt and implement digital environment to ensure their businesses would be able to reach the customers speedily and able to expand globally. The adoption of digital platform also comes with risks particularly related to cyber-threats. As daily operation moves towards digital, concurrently the threat will rise to where the perpetrators will take advantage of the increased number of users online.

For example, the promotion and development of technology in IOT, there will be a huge number of devices interconnected in the internet and online that will create vulnerability and loopholes that will provide advantages to the attacker. Based on a study by a research firm, HIS Markit, the IOT market will grow from 15.4 billion devices in 2015 to 30.7 billion devices in 2020 and more than 75 billion in 2025.

CYBERSECURITY MALAYSIA’S INITIATIVES

CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM) is a technical specialized agency under the purview of the Ministry of Communication and Multimedia Malaysia. CSM has established 40 services across cybersecurity domains covering responsive, proactive, capacity building, strategic research and engagement. CyberSecurity Malaysia could provide technical advice and professional technical assistance with regard to providing a safe and secure cybersecurity ecosystem to SMEs.

Figure 4: SiberKASA Services

Among the CyberSecurity Malaysia’s initiatives was the introduction of SiberKASA which was launched by the Minister of Communication and Multimedia on 23 March 2021. This initiative is aimed at developing, empowering, sustaining and strengthening cybersecurity infrastructure and ecosystem in the country to ensure network security preparedness.

CyberSecurity Malaysia provides a holistic approach that identifies potential threats to organisations and impacts to the national security and public well-being. Secondly CyberSecurity Malaysia also assists in the development of cyber resilience by having the capability to safeguard the interests of its stakeholders, reputation, brand and activities, to create value for the nation. Some of the services available at CyberSecurity Malaysia are the Cyber Security Emergency Services which include the Cyber999 Hotline for making reports on any incidences, Security Quality Management Services, Information Security Professional Development and Outreach and the Cyber Security Strategic Engagement and Research.

CyberSecurity Malaysia has come up with some cybersecurity guidelines and it has been made available to the public. The guidelines are prepared for the purpose of maintaining ethical use of the Internet and also to safeguard the interests of certain groups such as children, youth, parents, individuals and organisations. The guidelines cover several services such as for Cloud Computing, IoT, Industrial Revolution 4.0 and a few others.

CONCLUSION

The government is working very hard to improve the standard of living of the poor people in the country. The government also ensures that those people who are involved in the SME industry are given the opportunity to be independent, to grow their business and at the same time being resilient despite the economic setback due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, the government is also encouraging the SMEs to embrace the cybersecurity ecosystem to safeguard their SMEs from any potential cyber-threats or cyber-attacks.

One of the challenges that the government is facing is about changing the SME’s mindset to accept changes especially in the digital era. The move towards complete digitalization in the economic sector is long and hazardous but more difficult to those SMEs. The mindset is that by embracing digitalization it would cost more money to be spent on equipping their cottage industries with the Internet network, proper gadgets, and connectivity.

In the current environment, the SMEs are very vulnerable to cyber-threats and cyber-attacks. Any cyber-attack on SMEs would cause the SME to suffer losses and shut down business. An SME cannot stand alone and be independent in the digital landscape because in the cybersecurity ecosystem, the system is very much linked to other entities in the business ecosystem such as stakeholders, partners, suppliers, investors, and customers. If one link is broken anywhere in the ecosystem due to cyber-attack, the others will be weakened too, and business will suffer. It is important to adapt cybersecurity technologies that would be predictive, proactive and responsive.

THE WAY FORWARD

With the COVID-19 pandemic threat around the world, businesses with digital platform will be the best approach for organisations to reach their customers and conduct promotions regarding their products and services. Most people will assume that the function of cybersecurity is to reduce risk against cyber-attack. However, it is time for the management to look at cybersecurity as a growth enabler instead of growth constraining.

A sound and solid cybersecurity strategy must promote innovation and customer trust that are essential for continued growth. A well-developed cybersecurity strategy keeps the operational wheels of business rolling. Agile organisation will have the advantage by using cutting-edge technologies for producing better product, services, and better customer experience. This will include technologies related to cloud services, big data, IoT etc. With these technologies, security need to be embedded to ensure less vulnerability.

With the right strategy and policy, SMEs will be able to ensure resiliency if any cyber-attack were to happen. The technologies will be able to assist the business to recover and continue their businesses as usual. Effective cybersecurity is needed to enhance product integrity, customer experience, operations, regulatory compliance, brand reputation, and investor confidence.

It is no longer a question of whether SMEs will be attacked but more of a question of when it will happen, and how your organization is going to prevent it. Organisations need to implement the predictive, preventive, responsive and recovery strategy in facing cyber-threats.

Reference

1. 1. Twelfth Malaysia Plan, 2021 – 2025 (epu.gov.my)
2. 2. Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), “Report of Special Survey ‘Effects of COVID-19 on the Economy and Companies/Business Firms’- Accessed: December 2020
3. 3. https://datareportal.com/reports/digital-2021-malaysia
4. 4. https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/malaysias-ecommerce-income-233- yoy-rm2676b-2q (Department of Statistics Malaysia Official Portal (dosm.gov.my))
5. 5. https://www.statista.com/outlook/dmo/ecommerce/malaysia

Tan Sri Azman Hashim
President
MASSA

Greetings and Best Wishes for 2022!

2021 was a year of perseverance and recovery for all of us. By the month of November, we have recorded more than 95% of the adult population being fully vaccinated. Alongside this encouraging development, interstate travel restrictions have been relaxed, enabling the economic sectors to slowly begin operating in full swing.

Malaysia’s economic performance showed a slight slump by 4.5% in the third quarter; however, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) expects a rebound as the impact of the pandemic is slowly waning with the easing of border controls and the gradual recommencement of economic activities across all sectors. GDP growth for 2022 is projected to recover between 5.5% and 6.5% with the key support of manufacturing and construction projects, the improvement in labour market as well as a high export demands.

The headline inflation for 2021 is projected to average between 2.0% and 3.0%, while the underlying inflation, as measured by core inflation, is expected to average below 1.0%. In 2022, headline inflation is expected to remain moderate. With the normalizations of economic activities, core inflation is predicted to rise but remain subdued due to spare capacity in the economy and slack in the labour market. However, the future outlook still depends on the COVID-19 risk factors, both globally and domestically, the global financial markets stability and the disruptions of supply chain.

The Government’s National Investment Aspirations (NIA), signals the Government’s commitment towards cohesively and synergistically fostering long-term sustainable economic growth by reforming and restructuring its investments strategies and policies, cognisant of the new complex challenges and demands of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the prevailing uncertainty and volatility of the pandemic as the global economy begins to return to form. The framework will be catered towards better attracting strategic, quality investments with high-value economic impact, with focus on development of sophisticated products and services through high local research and development and innovation alongside high skilled job creation, to ensure Malaysia remains relevant and competitive as a prime destination for trade & investment.

Going forward, I am cautiously optimistic in my outlook towards Malaysia’s economic recovery in 2022, underpinned by my expectations in the ratification of RCEP and CPTPP, the post-pandemic / endemic phase and the ever-increasing digitalisation and digital solutions across all business sectors.

I appreciate the continuing support and cooperation of all members, especially my fellow Executive Committee members, and ex-officio partners for your attendance, support and contributions at our regular meetings & events and not forgetting our sponsors of our website.

I also wish to thank all who have contributed valuable and insightful articles to our Newsletter for 2021.

I wish everyone a happy, healthy and successful 2022.

Tan Sri Azman Hashim
President
15 December 2021

Chile – Malaysia MASSCORP/MASSA: 3-decades´ building bricks in the wake of the Chile-ASEAN Development Partnership

H.E. Don Diego Velasco-von Pilgrimm,

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Chile to Malaysia and to Brunei Darussalam,
https://chile.gob.cl/malasia/en/
E-mail: dvelasco@minrel.gob.cl  

Brief History and Current Affairs

It is a privilege for us to make a forward on a focus on Chile, upon invitation by MASSA-MASSCORP, the first ever since the establishment of the Resident Embassy of Chile to Malaysia in 1989. In this auspicious occasion, it is important to recall that MASSCORP was established as a consequence of the exploratory missions of Malaysia to South America in the early 1990’s, given the then -and today even more- potential for our respective regions.

Ever since, the bilateral activity between our countries went into a high dynamism, witnessing the very first Malaysian investments in South America, such as the Malaysia Building in Santiago and the development of a satellite social housing project in the Chilean Railworks “Maestranza de San Bernardo”, including a 45 km rail link to the capital´s main subway network, endeavors that bordered US$ 200 million. 

By the other hand, along other areas, Chile´s Navy Shipyards ASMAR explored and carried out cooperation in shipbuilding in Kuching and Lumut, resulting in the jointly building of one coastal tanker and two tugboats.

Consolidating these activities, we have signed 10 bilateral agreements ranging from information to culture; from Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation to Investments Promotion and Investment protection and for the Avoidance of Double Taxation; from Antarctic sciences to export promotion cooperation; and from education in foreign affairs and public service to defense matters.

The latest one, the Chile-Malaysia Free Trade Agreement of 2010 is the only one of this kind signed by Malaysia with any country of the entire American continent, from the North to the South poles.

As well, in the international arena, in 2019 Chile became Development Partner with ASEAN, and in 2021 ASEAN and partners welcomed our interest to access the ASEAN Australia & New Zealand FTA (AANZFTA). Malaysia has always been key to our participation in the region, ever since the support for Chile to join APEC.

The COVID-19 pandemic has certainly reshaped in many new ways the cooperation and future of bilateral and multilateral relations, opening a broad scenario for the new technologies, be there in communications, in science, in clean energy and on protection of the seas and the effects of climate change, including social and public policy to adjust to these changes.

Today, we are proud to inform the strengthening of our bilateral ongoing bonds by revitalizing those agreements with the actors themselves. Indeed, we are now working on joint investments on Green Hydrogen development, cooperation among technical universities, activated the Cultural Agreement to promote joint works among Sister Cities in historic values as well as in tourism and youth, supported the signing of an MoU on cooperation in Robotics, Artificial Intelliegence and Drones, reenacted cooperation on Antarctic sciences, and validated the MoU in Export Promotions Cooperation.

We believe that we mutually can benefit our Peoples -and our respective regions- by this spirit of cooperation, that has shown so many positive outcomes before and is vibrant and vivid now for the common future. In this, it seems timely to mention two initiatives that will give new shape to cooperation in culture, science, industry, and businesses.

First, is Chile´s fiber optic submarine cable -the Humboldt Project- linking 13,000 kms directly South America with Asia Pacific through New Zealand and Australia, to make the Asia-South America Digital Highway a reality a distance. Expected to be operative around 2025, Brazil and Argentina have also joined the project.  Through this cable, for instance, Asia will be able to connect directly and in real time with the most advanced astronomical research capability, as by 2030, 70% of the world´s top optical observatories and millimetric arrays are going to be in Chile´s northern desserts.

Secondly, and on the back of having the world´s highest solar irradiation, on November 12^th, 2021, Chile has launched the initiative to build a similar submarine cable, this time for energy transmission line to Asia, for our daily light-energy to be used in the nighttime halfway across the world, thus alleviating carbon-emitting generation. This massive undertaking implies a line between 11,000 to 18,000 kms.

The Team of the Embassy of Chile, which includes the Trade Representative of ProChile based in Kuala Lumpur and the InvestChile Asia Office based in Japan, have been tirelessly working with Malaysia for this impulse notwithstanding the pandemic, and the outcome is concrete and visible which encourages more to be of service in its pursuit.

Long live to the Chile-Malaysia Friendship!

Banyak terima kasih. Muchas gracias

Diego Velasco-von Pilgrimm
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Chile to Malaysia

Business Feature:
Chile: A Sound Economy

Article by:

Don Vincente Pinto,
Investment Commissioner of Chile for Asia (InvestChile)
www.investchile.gob.cl
E-mail: vpinto@investchile.gob.cl

– The full version of the report can be accessed HERE –

Chile’s Foreign Investment Promotion Agency, InvestChile, has launched its new sector-specific e-Books InvestChile Insights. These publications describe the projections and opportunities in industries with high investment potential and provide key information about market trends, Chilean legislation, ecosystems and much more. Download the electronic books free-of-charge here: https://bit.ly/2Skw9ai

You are also invited to read Newsletter #3 ProChile ASEAN here: https://acceso.prochile.cl/difusion/difusion2021/noviembre/prochile-newsletter-3/newsletter.html 

MASSA extends its appreciation to H.E. Don Diego Velasco-von Pilgrimm, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Chile to Malaysia and to Brunei Darussalam, the Embassy of Chile to Malaysia and Brunei Darussalam and InvestChile, representative for Asia, based in Tokyo for this Country Feature.

‣ President’s Statement

‣ Editorial

‣ Country Feature: Chile – Malaysia MASSCORP/MASSA: 3-decades´ building bricks in the wake of the Chile-ASEAN Development Partnership

– Brief History and Current Affairs

– Business Feature: Chile: A Sound Economy

‣ Cybersecurity Challenges that Small and Medium Enterprises Faced and Its Way Forward

‣ Diary of Events (August – December)

‣ 18 August 2021
MAJECA-PIKOM-ASOCIO Cybersecurity Webinar: “How Safe Are You Online” 

‣ 2 September 2021
MASSA-MyAIRA Preparatory Meeting with H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassador of Chile to Malaysia

‣ 4 October 2021
MASSA-MyAIRA-ERA Webinar on Cybersecurity – “Cyber-Attack Prevention for Consumers and Enterprises”

‣ 6 October 2021
Virtual Courtesy Call on Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President of MASSA by H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassador of Chile to Malaysia

‣ 13 October 2021
MASSA-MyAIRA-MAJECA Webinar on Drones – “Opportunities in the Drone Industry”

‣ 2 November 2021
Meeting with InvestPerak

‣ 5 November 2021
High-tea with H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassador of Chile

‣ 17 November 2021
Meeting with Investment Office of the Presidency of Turkey & Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of Turkey in Malaysia 

‣ 25 November 2021
MASSA-MyAIRA-ERA-MAJECA Webinar on Robotics & AI – “How AI & Robotics Impacts Your Life”

‣ Forthcoming Events

1) MAJECA-PIKOM-ASOCIO Cybersecurity Webinar: “How Safe Are You Online” held on 18 August 2021 Via Microsoft Teams

The Malaysia South-South Association (MASSA) and CyberSecurity Malaysia, supported a webinar on cybersecurity hosted over Microsoft Teams, titled “How Safe Are You Online?”, on 18^th August 2021 jointly organised by the Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (MAJECA), in collaboration with the National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM), the Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO). 200 participants registered of which 130 logged on. The participants came from various business sectors, universities, organisations, and government agencies from Malaysia, Japan, Korea and from the developing countries (incl. Bangladesh, Bosnia, Chile, Guinea, Taiwan and Thailand).

More and more businesses of all sizes and sectors are embracing the ‘digitalisation imperative’ to remain competitive and resilient. In this current IR4.0 era and exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic, business systems, processes and data have to be constantly updated and to remain relevant.

The ongoing digital transformation, pivots on investments into the adoption of new technologies, processes and automation. The increasing integration of digitised data-driven services, while improving business resilience and function, has also exposed users to new areas of vulnerability.

This webinar addressed these vulnerabilities and featured experts, institutions and solution providers from across Japan, Korea and Malaysia to holistically inform and equip participants on aspects of cybersecurity from industry, practitioner and legal standpoints.

The programme for this webinar is as follows:

The webinar began with welcoming addresses from the leadership of MAJECA, PIKOM and ASOCIO after being introduced by the emcee.

Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President, Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (MAJECA) & Malaysia South-South Association (MASSA), delivering his welcome address.

Mr Danny Lee, Chairman of The National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM), giving his welcome address.

Mr David Wong, Chairman of Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO), giving his welcome address.

Mr Ong Kian Yew, Chief Executive Officer, National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) as the emcee of the webinar.

Following that, a report on the collaborative venture of ASEAN – Japan Cybersecurity Project was delivered by the representatives of Japan IT Services Industry Association (JISA), in which they announced the launching of a new initiative called Cybersecurity Business Platform (CBP) that will help businesses in ASEAN region to overcome cybersecurity attacks.

Mr Takeshi Miyamoto, President of Japan IT Services Industry Association (JISA) delivering his greetings and introducing JISA and its activities.

Ms Ruy Hayashi, Japan IT Services Industry Association (JISA), the International Coordinator for ASEAN – Japan Cybersecurity Project introducing a new JISA intiative to support businesses titled ASEAN-CBP (ASEAN – Cybersecurity Business Platform) @ https://asean-cbp.org.

The discussion on the topic of the importance of cybersecurity and how having a cybersecurity strategy can ensure business continuity, was moderated by Dato’ Ts. Dr. Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab, CEO of CyberSecurity Malaysia. Joining alongside him was a distinguished panel comprising industry, practitioner and legal experts in the field of cybersecurity.

Dato’ Ts. Dr. Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab, CEO, CyberSecurity Malaysia, the session moderator.

The panelists were as follows:

Mr Alex Loh, Chairman of PIKOM Cybersecurity Chapter &Country Manager of Fortinet Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

Mr John Choi, Deputy Chairman of Asian-Oceanian Computing Industry Organization (ASOCIO) & Founder of MarkAny Inc.

Ms Janet Toh, Partner of M/S Shearn Delamore & Co.

Following the presentations by the speakers, the webinar proceeded into a panel discussion-cum-Q&A session led once more by Dato’ Ts. Dr. Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab. The panelists discussed the following:

• • The complexity of cyberthreats today that is becoming more intelligent, borderless and faceless engaging in malware and phishing tactics. As COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the push towards all things digital, there is a need to invest in cybersecurity solutions to manage our business digital infrastructures and to ringfence them against such crimes.

• • Mr Alex Loh highlighted the struggles of hiring cybersecurity professionals due to the lack of talents that specialize in this field. Hence, the need to develop these talents by providing training and education from university level. There are also opportunities for organisations to provide cybersecurity training and programmes to increase awareness among the general workforce. He also encouraged organisations to undertake cybersecurity assessments and invest in appropriate cybersecurity solutions.

• • Mr John Choi opined that existing cybersecurity solutions may not be enough to combat cyber threats that is increasingly becoming more intelligent and sophisticated with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI).  Therefore, a multi-layered defense must be deployed. The first layer of prevention engaging traditional technology such as Firewalls can be augmented by a second layer e.g. data encryption. A third and emerging   cybersecurity technology i.e. tracing technology, can now trace the source of the cyberattack. He also touched on the topic of ensuring data and privacy protection by using homomorphic encryption – a technology that allows us to perform statistical analysis over encrypted data on a larger scale.

• • Ms Janet Toh touched on the issue of cyberattacks becoming increasingly sophisticated and the rise of ransomware and phishing exploits through machine learning. The accelerated digitisation is caused by many organisations having to adapt to remote/hybrid work models due to the pandemic situation. Work-from-home employees have to rely on their own personal devices, removable storage devices, whilst some companies have started using cloud servers and had to quickly approve new software. This situation exposes organisations to data risks because work-from-home employees are all in different locations, operating from different networks, not working with the organization’s perimeter network on multiple devices. Ms Janet Toh’s slides can be accessed here.

• • The webinar brought to light the procedures for individuals or an organisation to follow when their digital identity and data e.g.: user ID, passwords, banking details – is hacked. The suggested procedures include, amongst others, shutting down the organisation’s network, perform forensic analysis to recover the data loss and investing in insurance. For individuals, the best step is to alert and warn close family members and friends regarding the threat and not to respond to any unusual requests on one’s devices.

• • Dato’ Ts. Dr Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab – highlighted the need for an improved regulatory framework, the importance of collaboration between the government and private sectors as well as academia. CyberSecurity Malaysia also provides a platform – MyCERT’s Cyber999 Help Centre – to report data breaches incidents whether it is individual or organisational issues.

Dato’ Ts. Dr Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab, the session moderator, wrapped up the webinar with the following closing remarks:

• • The need to conduct audits to understand the value of the data and information and data channels within each organisation, thereby enabling decision-makers to evaluate the optimal cybersecurity strategy to employ.
• • Cybersecurity solutions (especially at the enterprise-level) needs to develop a multi-layered defence and preventive system to defend against the borderless cyber threats that is evolving to be more accessible, intelligent and creative.
• • The importance of facilitating and investing in cybersecurity from a holistic standpoint to increase awareness among the general workforce at the people-level; at the process-level, instituting sound cybersecurity policies and frameworks; and at the technology-level recognising that cyber criminals are evolving with the advent of more IR4.0 technologies such as AI, video-cloning etc. Therefore, it is important to keep abreast with new cybersecurity technologies and infrastructures that are interdisciplinary and adaptive.

The following were a few photos snapped at the webinar by the MASSA Secretariat:

Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President, MASSA & MAJECA delivering his welcome address.

From top-left, clockwise:
Ms Janet Toh, Dato’ Ts. Dr Haji Amirudin Abdul Wahab, Mr Masayuki Osuka (another representative from JISA) Mr Alex Loh and Mr John Choi during panel discussion.

A group photo of the role-players at the end of the webinar .

 Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary, Malaysian South-South Association (MASSA) and the Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (MAJECA) was the emcee of the webinar.

• • The need to understand the common threads of deceptive practices, and how we tend to filter, interpret the things we see and how we react to issues in an emotional-charged manner like curiosity, urgency, greed, fear and helpfulness which may create mental blind spots that can be exploited by bad faith actors.
  
  • The need for people, process and technology to be aligned, constantly reviewed and updated, in order to stay ahead of the threats and possible attacks.
  
  • The importance of strong cybersecurity system to be in place by investing in the best solutions and practices to mitigate cyber-attacks, protect the trust and confidence between the enterprises and its customers and consumers.

From top-left, clockwise:

Tan Sri Azman Hashim, President, MASSA, H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Chile to Malaysia, Datuk Lee Teck Yuen, Hon. Secretary, MASSA, Mr Vincente Pinto, Investment Commissioner for Asia, InvestChile, Mr Juan Alonso Gutiérrez, Embassy of Chile to Malaysia, Ms Ana Belen Bueno, Embassy of Chile to Malaysia, Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary, MASSA, Mr Samuel Loh, Programme Executive, MASSA and Ms Phoon Thye Ling, Accounts Manager, MASSA

The meeting discussed amongst others, the three decades of business ties and cooperation MASSA and its investment associate, the Malaysian South-South Corporation Berhad (MASSCORP) had with its counterparts in Chile.

His Excellency invited MASSA to focus on some sectors where Chile has made good strides and can offer collaborative opportunities to Malaysia, as a launchpad for Latin American joint investments into the ASEAN region. These include:

• • Green Hydrogen and Renewable Energy initiatives
• • The potential of its Dairy Industry & Food Security
• • 5G and its Optic Cable connections between Chile & Australia, spinning off myriad possibilities for ASEAN.
• • Water resources management, especially in areas of recovery of non-revenue water, aging water infrastructure and the impact of climate change.

5) MASSA-MyAIRA-MAJECA Webinar on Drones – “Opportunities in the Drone Industry” on 13 October 2021

The Malaysia South-South Association (MASSA) collaborated with the Malaysian Autonomous Intelligence & Robotics Association (MyAIRA), Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (MAJECA), the Expertise Resource Association (ERA), Invest Selangor and the Embassy of Chile in Malaysia to organise a webinar on drones, titled “Opportunities in the Drone Industry” on 13 October 2021.

Over 100 participants from various business sectors and countries including Malaysia, Chile, Japan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Singapore and Turkey registered for this event.

 

 Mr Samuel Loh, Programme Executive, Malaysian South-South Association (MASSA) and the Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (MAJECA) was the emcee of the webinar.

 

• • The drone industry continues to grow over the years. The hardware and software in manufacturing these drones are becoming more affordable, and will be more evidently prevalently used across all sectors. The opportunities offered by drones can be a future economic growth driver.
• 
  • The deployment of drones is vital in addressing shortage of manpower such as in smart-farming, dangerous and expensive infrastructure inspections as well as challenging deliveries for humanitarian emergency aid. The drone data capture can be processed into various data outputs, including but not limited to orthomosaics/point cloud/reality mesh/ augmented reality etc. and these outputs can be used for various applications in different sectors.
• 
  • The importance of developing and adhering to the standards and regulations set by the government in piloting these aircraft drones. It is also important that managers and operators of these aerial drones must be competent, responsible and well-trained to perform their tasks.

6) Meeting with InvestPerak on 2 November 2021

A meeting between InvestPerak and MASSA was held on 2 November 2021 in the MASSA Secretariat Office.

Attendees from InvestPerak:

• • En Izran Abdullah, CEO
• • Dr Ahmad Shahir Abdul Aziz, Senior Manager, InvestPerak & Special Officer to YB EXCO
• • En Mohd Noor Arif Zakaria, Investor Relations Manager

Attendees from MASSA:

• • Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary
• • Mr Samuel Loh, Programme Executive

The meeting highlighted the investment thrusts of the state of Perak, and its SilverValley initiative, developing an “industrial corridor” that covers the entire state of Perak to attract investments in key sectors aimed at driving growth for the state (https://www.investperak.gov.my/silvervalley/). The meeting also discussed key areas of engagement and collaboration with MASSA for 2022.

From left-to-right:
Dr Ahmad Shahir Abdul Aziz, Senior Manager, InvestPerak & Special Officer to YB EXCO; En Mohd Noor Arif Zakaria, Investor Relations Manager, Invest Perak; En Izran Abdullah, CEO, Invest Perak receiving a copy of MASSA and MASSCORP’s 27^th Anniversary Book from MASSA presented by Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary, MASSA and Mr Samuel Loh, Programme Executive, MASSA.

7) High-tea with H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassador of Chile to Malaysia on 5 November 2021

MASSA, alongside representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Wisma Putra) was invited for high-tea hosted by H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassdor of Chile to Malaysia and his wife, Dr Ambara Baratawidjaja at the Residence of the Ambassador of Chile on 5 November 2021 to witness the in-person signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) document by the Malaysian Autonomous Intelligence & Robotics Association (MyAIRA).

This follows the announcement of the MoU between MyAIRA and the Association of Pilots of Unmanned Aircraft (APANT) Chile at the MASSA-MyAIRA-MAJECA Webinar on Drones on 13 October which was supported by the Expertise Resource Association (ERA), InvestSelangor and the Embassy of Chile. MASSA was represented by Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary and Mr Samuel Loh, Programme Executive.

Presentation of the signed MoU document (from left-to-right): 
Ms Hanniz Lam, Communications Director, MyAIRA, H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassador of Chile to Malaysia, Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary, Mr Yong Chong Soon, President, MyAIRA and Pn Najwa Musyrifah Ramli, Principal Assistant Secretary, Americas Division, Ministry of Foreign Affiars (Wisma Putra).

A group photo of representatives from MASSA, MyAIRA, the Ministry of Foreign Affiars (Wisma Putra) and the Embassy of Chile with H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassdor of Chile and his wife, Dr Ambara Baratawidjaja.

8) Meeting with Investment Office of the Presidency of Turkey & Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of Turkey in Malaysia on 17 November 2021

A virtual meeting between Investment Office of the Presidency of Turkey and Commercial Counsellor of the Embassy of Turkey, based in Kuala Lumpur with MASSA was held on 17 November 2021.

The Investment Office is the official organization for promoting Turkey’s investment opportunities to the global business community and assisting investors before, during, and after their entry into Turkey (https://www.invest.gov.tr/en/pages/home-page.aspx).

This introductory meeting enabled both parties to meet each other and to discuss potential collaborative events to introduce opportunities for deepening Investment and Trade for MASSA members with counterparts in Turkey.

This meeting was made possible through the introduction and facilitation by Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA).

Attendees of this virtual meeting were as follows:

• • Dr Bilal Ilhan, Country Advisor, Investment Office of the Presidency of Turkey
• • Ms Elif Haliloglu Gungunes, Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of Turkey
• • Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary, MASSA
• • Mr Samuel Loh, Programme Executive, MASSA
• • Ms Phoon Thye Ling, Accounts Manager, MASSA

From left-to-right (clockwise):
Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary, MASSA, Dr Bilal Ilhan, Country Advisor, Investment Office of the Presidency of Turkey, Mr Samuel Loh, Programme Executive, MASSA and Ms Elif Haliloglu Gungunes, Commercial Counsellor, Embassy of Turkey.

9) MASSA-MyAIRA-ERA-MAJECA Webinar on Robotics & AI – “How AI & Robotics Impacts Your Life” on 25 November 2021

The Malaysia South-South Association (MASSA) collaborated with the Malaysian Autonomous Intelligence & Robotics Association (MyAIRA), the Expertise Resource Association (ERA) and the Malaysia-Japan Economic Association (MAJECA) and the Selangor Human Resource Development Centre (SHRDC) to organise a webinar on AI & Robotics titled “How AI & Robotics Impacts Your Life” on 25 November 2021.

Over 175 participants from various business sectors and countries registered for this event including Malaysia, Chile, Japan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Singapore and Turkey.

In recent years, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics technologies have become an increasing presence in our daily life. With industrialisation, robots have played an important role across many sectors, improving efficiency and productivity.

Although still under development, AI, algorithms and technological applications, combined with proper implementation of ethics, diversity and inclusive design have given rise to an explosion of applications in many areas and into new realms. Now, the AI and robotics fields are working unanimously to provide advanced solutions that can benefit the general public and businesses significantly.

This webinar was aimed at introducing AI and Robotics technologies, its uses and applications to participants.

The webinar programme was as follows: 

– President’s Statement

– Editorial

– Country Feature – Bangladesh: A Brief on Trade and Investment Opportunities in Bangladesh

– MDEC: Digital Job Vacancies Almost Tripled in Malaysia

– MATRADE: Sourcing from Malaysia through E-Commerce

– MIDA Smart Automation Grant (SAG): A smart move for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in  COVID-19 pandemic business operation

– Honing and Acquiring Talent for Digital Transformation

– Diary of Events

1. 26 May 2021:
BMCCI Webinar: “Bangladesh-Malaysia FTA: Challenges & Opportunities for Business Community”

2. 2 June 2021:
Online Round Table Discussion on “Connecting to the African Market – Mauritius Your Investment Destination”

3.  2 June 2021:
Showcase Bangladesh: 2021 Bangladesh-Malaysia Investment Summit

4. 23 June 2021:
30th Annual General Meeting of MASSA

 Click to view: MASSA Annual Report 2020 – 2021

5. 24 June 2021:
Zoom Meeting with H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassador of Chile to Malaysia

– Forthcoming Events

• • 18 August 2021: ‘How Safe Are You Online?’ A Cybersecurity Webinar jointly hosted by PIKOM-ASOCIO-MAJECA supported by MASSA and Cybersecurity Malaysia
  

1) BMCCI Webinar: “Bangladesh-Malaysia FTA: Challenges & Opportunities for Business Community” held on 26th May 2021 Via Zoom

The Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and industry (BMCCI) on 26^th May 2021 over Zoom organised a webinar titled “Bangladesh-Malaysia FTA: Challenges and Opportunities for Business Community”. Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary represented MASSA as an invited discussant on the panel of discussants and opinion leaders.

The webinar was also graced by Chief Guest, H.E. Tipu Munshi, M.P. Honorable Minister, Ministry of Commerce, Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh, and Guests of Honor, H.E. Md. Golam Sarwar, High Commissioner, Bangladesh High Commission to Malaysia and H.E. Haznah Md. Hashim, High Commissioner, High Commission of Malaysia to Bangladesh.

This webinar was organised with the aim to discuss the effectiveness of a free trade agreement (FTA) in unlocking international business opportunities between Bangladesh and Malaysia by taking an institutional perspective in explaining the existence and effects of non-tariff barriers and how the FTA can address these barriers to attract investors.

The webinar programme was as follows:

The full recording of the webinar can be viewed on the BMCCI Facebook Page from the following link: https://fb.watch/5JO5IluqIs/.

The webinar began with a welcoming address from Chairperson & Moderator,  Mr Raquib Mohammad Fakhrul Rocky (pic below), President of BMCCI.

Dr Mostafa Abid Khan (pic below), Member, Bangladesh Trade & Tariff Commission, Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh presented a keynote paper on “Bangladesh-Malaysia FTA: Challenges and Opportunities for Business Community”. His keynote touched on the following items:

– A comparison of key indicators between Bangladesh and Malaysia

– The trade policies of the nations

– Trade performance of Bangladesh and Malaysia

– Bilateral economic relations between Malaysia and Bangladesh

– The challenges and opportunities of a bilateral FTA

Following that a panel discussion amongst the discussants / opinion leaders.

From left to right:

Mr Amri Bukhairi Bakhtiar, Director, Strategic Negotiation Division, Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Malaysia

Mr Noor Md. Mahbubul Haq, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of Bangladesh

Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary, Malaysia South-South Association (MASSA)

Dr Khondaker Golam Moazzem, Research Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD)

From left to right:

Mr Md. Saiful Islam, Senior Reporter, The Financial Express

Mr Syed Moazzam Hossain, Former President, BMCCI

Dr Sabrina, Chairperson, SVC Jhilmil Residential BD. Ltd.

Mr Abrar Anwar, Managing Director & CEO, Standard Chartered Malaysia

After the Question & Answer session following the panel discussion the Guests of Honor and the Chief Guest gave their remarks.

Guest of Honor, H.E. Md. Golam Sarwar, High Commissioner of Bangladesh to Malaysia

Guest of Honor, H.E. Haznah Md Hashim, High Commissioner of Malaysia to Bangladesh

Chief Guest, H.E. Tipu Munshi, M.P., Honorable Minister, Ministry of Commerce,
Government of the Peoples’ Republic of Bangladesh

The webinar came to a close with the concluding remarks delivered by Mr Md. Anwar Shahid (pic below), Vice-President, BMCCI & Convener of Trade & Investment, Steering Committee.

MASSA would like to thank the Bangladesh-Malaysia Chamber of Commerce and industry (BMCCI) for organised and inviting MASSA and its members to participate in this webinar. MASSA congratulates BMCCI’s role in promoting and facilitating the bilateral business and investment flows over the years.

Below are a few group photos of panelists and participants:

2) Online Round Table Discussion on “Connecting to the African Market  – Mauritius Your Investment Destination” held on 2 June 2021 via Microsoft Teams

The Economic Development Board (EDB) of Mauritius and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) of Malaysia organised an online Round Table Discussion on “Connecting to the African Market – Mauritius Your Investment Destination” on 2^nd June 2021. Members of MASSA and the MASSA secretariat attended this event.

The Online Round Table Discussion was graced by H.E. Mr. Jagdishwar Goburdhun, G.O.S.K., High Commissioner of Mauritius to Malaysia, Tan Sri Dato’ Soh Thian Lai, President of the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers, Mr Geerish Bucktowonsing, Director of Industry, Economic Development Board (EDB) and Ms Rooma Pillay Narrainen, Manager – Trade Division, Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

This Round Table Discussion was organised with the aim to discuss potential and opportunities available in Mauritius for a variety of Malaysian businesses and investments. Mauritius is seeking to widen and deepen good economic relations with Malaysia through the import-export sector as well as tech transfer, training and upskilling of Mauritian talents in Malaysia and establishing Malaysian manufacturing operations with local business partners.

Mauritius can be a key trade and investment partner for Malaysia, targeting the 1.3 billion market in the African continent. Mauritius is naturally and strategically situated in the Indian Ocean and had ratified a number of FTAs across Africa as well as signed FTAs with India and China.

Trade Agreements Network between Mauritius and other regions and countries.

This gives Mauritius and its business affiliates access to almost 70% of the world population as potential markets. Besides that, the Mauritian government has proven to maintain political peace and stability, nurturing the growth of Mauritian enterprises and leading markets across Africa. The government is investing heavily in infrastructure, telecommunications and improving public facilities. The private sector also enjoys good cooperation with the government, further boosting the nation’s economic trajectory.

The webinar programme was as follows:

(Clockwise, from top left)
Mr Geerish Bucktowonsing, Mr Vikash Ramdin, Tan Sri Dato’ Soh Thian Lai, H.E. Mr. Jagdishwar Goburdhun

Mr Geerish Bucktowonsing, Director of Industry, Economic Development Board (EDB) of Mauritius presented on “Connecting to the African Market: Mauritius Your Investment Destination”. His presentation highlighted the following items:

Mauritius: International Accolades

Mauritius: Preferential Markets

Mauritius: Manufacturing Sector at a Glance (2020)

Mauritius: Platform for High Value-Added Manufacturing

New Business Opportunities in Mauritius

Trade Incentives Offered in Mauritius

Investment Incentives for the Manufacturing Sector in Mauritius

Ms Rooma Pillay Narrainen, Manager – Trade Division, Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry presented on “Preferential Rules of Origion: Exports to Africa”.

The highlights of her presentation can be seen from the diagrams and charts below:

Existing Trade Agreement between Mauritius and Africa

Rules of Origin may differ depending on different trade agreements. Hence, Rules of Origin differs for COMESA, SADC and ACFTA. More information may be obtained from: https://www.mcci.org/

Mauritius Current Exports to Africa

MASSA would like to thank the Economic Development Board (EDB) of Mauritius and the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) of Malaysia for organising and inviting MASSA and its members to participate in this Online Round Table Discussion. MASSA congratulates EDB and FMM’s role in promoting and expanding bilateral business and investment opportunities between Malaysia and Mauritius as well as the African continent.

Sources:

3) Showcase Bangladesh: 2021 Bangladesh-Malaysia Investment Summit held on 2 June 2021 via Zoom

Standard Chartered Malaysia jointly hosted a virtual forum titled ‘Showcase Bangladesh: 2021 Bangladesh-Malaysia Investment Summit‘ alongside the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) on 2 June 2021.

The webinar began with a promotional video highlighting the investment outlook for Bangladesh prepared by BIDA.

Welcome Address:

From left to right: – Mr Naser Ezaz Bijoy, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Bangladesh– Mr Abrar Anwar, Chief Executive Officer, Standard Chartered Malaysia

Keynote Presenters:

Chief Guest, H.E. Tipu Munshi, Honourable Minister of Commerce of Bangladesh

Mr Md Sirazul Islam, Executive Chairman, Bangladesh Investment Development Authority

Special Guest, Mr Salman Fazlur Rahman, Honourable Private Sector Industry & Investment Adviser to the Prime Minister delivered a speech after the panel discussion.

Panel Discussion:

From left to right:

1. Panel Moderator, Mr Ifrad Chowdhury

2. H.E. Mr Md Golam Sarwar, High Commissioner of People’s Republic of Bangladesh to Malaysia

3. H.E. Haznah Md Hashim, High Commissioner of Malaysia to Bangladesh

4. Mr Mahtab Uddin Ahmad, Chief Executive Officer, Robi Axiata

5. Ms Rupali Chowdhury, President, Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry

6. Mr Mak Joon Nien, Head of Client Coverage, Corporate, Commercial & Institutional Banking, Standard Chartered Malaysia

The webinar concluded with concluding remarks from Mr Enamul Huque, Head of Global Banking, Standard Chartered Bangladesh who thanked the role-players for sharing their insights.

The webinar highlighted the opportunities and incentives available for investment with Bangladesh. The Government of Bangladesh and its agencies shared their commitment to improve the business environment and increase trade flows, through reforms from a legal standpoint and in the equity markets.

Group photos of the role-players are as follows:

4) 30th Annual General Meeting of MASSA held on 23 June 2021

Tan Sri Azman Hashim (pic below), President of MASSA convened the Thirtieth (30th) Annual General Meeting (AGM) of MASSA at the Boardroom, 26th Floor, Bangunan Ambank Group, Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur over Zoom video-conference in compliance with the prevailing SOPs and directives in place to combat the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tan Sri Azman Hashim delivered his address and the meeting proceeded to unanimously adopt the Annual Report and the audited accounts of the Association for the year ended 31^st December 2020. You can read the MASSA Annual Report 2020 – 2021 here: http://www.massa.net.my/massa-annual-report-2020-2021/. The President thanked the Executive Committee and Office Bearers for their continuing support and MASSA members for their participation in MASSA events and activities.

The following were elected to the Executive Committee of MASSA for the new term 2021 – 2023:

Office Bearers: 
President: YBhg Tan Sri Azman Hashim
Vice-President (i): YABhg Tun Michael Chen Wing Sum
Vice-President (ii): YBhg Datuk Lim Fung Chee
Honorary Secretary: YBhg Datuk Lee Teck Yuen
Honorary Treasurer: YBhg Tan Sri Datuk Tee Hock Seng, JP
Honorary Assistant Secretary: YBhg Dato’ Lawrence Lim Swee Lin

Executive Committee Members: 
– YBhg Tan Sri Ghazzali Sheikh Abdul Khalid
– YBhg Dato’ J Jegathesan
– YBhg Dato’ Tan Kia Loke
– Mr Alagasan Gadigaselam
– YBhg Datuk Merlyn Kasimir
– YBhg Dato’ Shahrul Nazri Dato’ Abdul Rahim
– YBhg Tan Sri Dato’ Seri Vincent Tan
– YBhg Dato’ Ahmad Fuaad bin Mohd Kenali 

Tan Sri Azman Hashim, Chairman, congratulated the newly-elected Office Bearers and Executive Committee members on their appointment.

Some photos of the meeting proceedings can be found below:

Datuk T Y Lee, Honorary Secretary

Dato’ Ahmad Fuaad bin Mohd Kenali, Member of Executive Committee

En Mansor Shah Wahid, Ex-Officio, MATRADE

A virtual group photo of the attendees was taken at the end.

A virtual group photo of the attendees was taken at the end.

On behalf of the President, MASSA thanks its members and ex-officio for their participation at its 30th Annual General Meeting.

5) Zoom Meeting with H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassador of Chile to Malaysia on 24 June 2021

H.E. Diego Velasco, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Chile to Malaysia, and Sr Eduardo Callejas M., Counsellor had a virtual meeting with MASSA Secretariat (and MASSCORP) on 24 June 2021. Ms Ng Su Fun, Executive Secretary, MASSA, Mr Samuel Loh and members of the MASSA Secretariat met with His Excellency to discuss on potential joint collaborations for MASSA members.

(left to right) Ms Ng Su Fun, Mr Samuel Loh, H.E. Diego Velasco and Sr Eduardo Callejas

Article prepared by:

Mr Rony Ambrose Gobilee
Chief Programmes Officer
Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp)

Honing and Acquiring Talent for Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is without a doubt, one of the most positive changes to have emerged from the pandemic. It has allowed companies to become more agile, efficient and competitive. Many seemed to believe that technology is the primary driver of digital transformation. On the contrary however, it is actually spurred by human capital. People and technology empower one another. Therefore, securing the right talents for your company’s digital transformation strategy should be a priority.

Rapid technological advancement brings convenience to our work lives. However, it also makes the future far less predictable. A survey by Forrester in 2020 found that only 46% of companies in Malaysia are on a digital transformation journey¹. This is because, it appears that the majority of local companies are currently not set up for taking advantage of the new opportunities offered by digitalisation and mastering the challenges that come with it.

Aside from having to plan on which technology solutions to invest in, digitalisation requires employers to decide on which new positions to fill and which jobs or even departments to eliminate if necessary. To mitigate this, companies must focus on reskilling and upskilling existing employees so that they are better equipped to embrace digitalisation at the work place without their skillset, knowledge or roles becoming obsolete as a result of digitalisation. To that end, employees must be encouraged to be agile, dynamic and open to taking on new challenges to enhance their value in a digital-first workplace.  

Skills are categorised into hard and soft. Hard skills refer to technical skills acquired through education, training or certifications. Soft skills are interpersonal attributes, namely communications, attitude, leadership and more. Employees who possess high levels of proficiency in both sets of skills are rare and in high demand, especially by companies undertaking the gargantuan challenge of digital transformation.

Winning over talents for your company’s digital transformation strategy is no simple task. The movement of top tech talents in the labour market is extremely fluid. Therefore, it is important for you to clearly establish how your company will transform digitally and determine the technology and talents required to achieve that transformation. Identify value propositions that resonate with talents (e.g., career progression, freedom to innovate, skills development). Most importantly, the compensation package must commensurate with the experience and value that the employee offers.

According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia, the digital economy contributed a staggering 19.1% (RM289 billion) to  Malaysia’s GDP in 2019 and this grew to 20% in 2020.

This significant contribution could be attributed to the fact that in 2019, 1.14 million Malaysian talents were employed in the digital sector. Therefore, equipping Malaysia’s workforce with digital skills is paramount for  our nation’s growth and success. Possessing digital skills is no longer optional, those who do not have them will get left behind.

HRD Corporation’s Role in Driving Malaysia’s Digital Transformation Agenda

HRD Corp has been at the forefront of Malaysia’s human capital development for the past 28 years. Our mission is to improve lives through the promotion of lifelong learning and the acquisition of future work skills.

From our internal database, we have observed a significant shift in training trends. Unlike before, employees from industries across the spectrum are now enrolling in training courses related to digital skills, from basic Microsoft Excel, to complex Machine Learning. A total of 231,054 training places related to digital skills were successfully carried out by employers from 2018 to 2020. More than RM150 million was invested in digital skills training from 2018 to 2020.

HRD Corp has implemented a variety of initiatives to provide financial assistance to eligible companies that are undergoing digital transformation. These include:

1. 1. Information Technology (IT):
   Provide financial assistance to employers for the purchase of desktop or laptop computers, webcam and internet connection for their inhouse computer lab, to train employees in the field of Information Technology.
   
3. 2. Computer Based Training (CBT):
   Enable employers to purchase/develop training software to retrain and upgrade the knowledge and skills of their workforce.
   
5. 3. RiSE4WRD for Industry4WRD:
   Assist Small & Medium Enterprises (SME) in the manufacturing and related sectors that have participated in the Readiness Assessment (RA) under the Ministry of International Trade & Industry (MITI), to start or accelerate their digital transformation journeys.
   
7. 4. PENJANA INITIATIVE – INDUSTRY REVOLUTION 4.0:
   Assist employers that are planning on training their workers in digitalisation-related courses that could help employers improve business productivity and sustainability.

To learn more, please visit https://hrdcorp.gov.my/programmes/

Additionally, HRD Corp has also developed the Industrial Skills Framework (IndSF) for Digital Technology with key industry players as a common reference for skills required by individuals and employers to thrive in the digital economy. Information such as career pathways, recommended training programmes and certification are also included in the IndSF. Software Development, Data Science, Cybersecurity, are among the key emerging focus areas highlighted in the document.

Technology is evolving at an exponential rate and it is integral to how we live and work.  Information and data have become core business assets in this digital age. Insights garnered through the digital transformation process which are then acted upon by competent employees can accelerate a company’s progress. From big data, to blockchain, to artificial intelligence, the potential of emerging technologies is immense. Assembling the right pool of talents who are able to fully leverage modern digital technology, may be the single most important step that a company contemplating digital transformation can take². A clear focus on talent engagement will help companies better retain their talents, while improving business profitability and sustainability.

Source

1. 1. Granzen, A. (2021) “Spotlight On Southeast Asia: The State Of Digital Transformation In Malaysia”
2. 2. Davenport, T., Redman, T. (2020) “Digital Transformation Comes Down to Talent in 4 Key Areas”

Contact

PEMBANGUNAN SUMBER MANUSIA BERHAD

Wisma HRD Corp, Jalan Beringin
Damansara Heights
50490 Kuala Lumpur
Tel: 1800-88-4800
Fax: 03-2096 4999
E-mail: support@hrdcorp.gov.my
Website: https://hrdcorp.gov.my/

Article by the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, MIDA

MIDA Smart Automation Grant (SAG):
A smart move for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in COVID-19 pandemic business operation

In efforts to build a resilient recovery against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Malaysian Government launched the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) Stimulus Package, valued at RM35 billion in June 2020, to support the nation and businesses in the ‘new normal’. Through 40 key initiatives, PENJANA emphasises three (3) strategic thrusts:

• Empower the People;
• Propel Businesses; and
• Stimulate the Economy.

Recognising SMEs as the backbone of Malaysia’s economy, which makes up 98 per cent of the total establishments in the country, the Government continues to assist and support SMEs and Mid-tier Companies (MTCs) to cushion the impact of the pandemic. Hence, the Smart Automation Grant (SAG) initiative was introduced with an allocation of RM50 million. MIDA initiates the SAG over a 12-month programme and companies are eligible to apply to MIDA from 4 December 2020 to 31 December 2021.

Given on a matching basis (1:1) based on eligible expenditures, up to a maximum grant of RM1 million per company, MIDA SAG is a structured programme with the following objectives:-

• assist and incentivise Malaysian owned SMEs and MTCs to automise and digitalise operations, production and trade channels;
• reduce reliance on low-skilled foreign workers;
• improve efficiency in the manufacturing and services sectors;
• provide job opportunities in high value-added sectors; and
• boost domestic investment.

Eligibility criteria for SME and MTC

MIDA has also collaborated with selected banks as strategic alliances to promote and provide knowledge to companies on automation and digitalisation. First, companies will go through a series of session which would help them to refine their knowledge on automation and digitalisation through simulation training and evaluations. Subsequently, companies will share their plans to start developing or adopting new technologies to automate their production process or digitalise their business operations. Successful companies under this programme then may submit their application to MIDA and pitch to the Approval Committee. To date, MIDA has engaged with two banks, namely, AmBank Group and Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Berhad (MIDF).

Since its launch, MIDA SAG has received tremendous response and high interest shown by the domestic industries. As at 31 May 2021, MIDA has received 493 applications, surpassing the original projection. As at 30 June 2021, the Smart Automation Grant Approval Committee has approved a total of 77 companies with matching grants amounting to RM48.5 million, of which 86 per cent of the recipients are SMEs. Approved companies are mainly from industries such as plastics, wood, furniture and textiles. This indicates productive undertakings aligned with the Government’s aspiration under the PENJANA to reduce dependency on low-skilled labour and ultimately increase automation as well as the productivity of manufacturing and services companies.

The Government has since added an additional RM50 million allocation for the SAG under the PEMERKASA stimulus package.

Moving forward, MIDA, as the national principal investment promotion agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI), will continue to assume a vital role in shaping the future of Malaysia’s digital economy, as well as to drive automation and digitalisation of SMEs and MTCs.

About MIDA
MIDA is the government’s principal investment promotion and development agency under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) to oversee and drive investments into the manufacturing and services sectors in Malaysia. Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur Sentral, MIDA has 12 regional and 20 overseas offices. MIDA continues to be the strategic partner to businesses in seizing the opportunities arising from the technology revolution of this era. For more information, please visit www.mida.gov.my and follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube channel.

Scan to connect with MIDA:

www.mida.gov.my