IT is that time of the year to list the crème de la crème of Malaysia’s homegrown small and medium enterprises.
As I reflect on our 18 years of tireless efforts, my mind wanders off to the initial years of embarking on this journey. We didn’t want this to be any ordinary award.
We wanted to create an “A” list of not just a few, but 50 companies, that would catapult their visibility in both the domestic as well as international markets. An award is a form of honour; a kind of recognition aimed to facilitate excellent contribution in a chosen field.
And it goes further; it is not only a mark of prestige or excellence, but it is also a tremendous boost for a person or a company to strive and excel higher, and aim for even bigger accomplishments.
It is the ultimate token of recognition of the purest of talents and highest of achievements.
The Enterprise 50 (E50) Award was created to recognise the achievements of SMEs in Malaysia. SMEs comprise 98.5 per cent of overall business establishments in Malaysia, contributing 33 per cent of total gross domestic product, 59 per cent of employment and 19 per cent of exports.
Malaysian SMEs definitely deserve to be recognised for their role in the economic development of the country. SME Corp Malaysia indeed acknowledges their role as the drivers of our economic growth and this is ingrained in the implementation of the SME Masterplan, which will be fundamentally premised on “innovation-driven and productivity-led” strategy.
The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) has published many reports on the role of productivity growth in enhancing economic performance. Some of its findings have challenged conventional thinking about the sources of productivity growth, which can be individual businesses at a granular industry, sector or country, whereby improvement in productivity can help sustain long-term economic growth.
According to MGI’s study on the relationship between management practices and firm-level productivity (spanning across 14,000 organisations in more than 30 countries), the core elements of the management of such businesses can be assessed and scored. Well-managed firms have higher productivity, market value and growth, as well as greater ability to survive adverse conditions, such as global financial recessions.
The genesis of the E50 Award rests on a similar context in Malaysia where individual businesses or the SMEs demonstrate potential to contribute to national productivity and growth. We need to find a scientific mechanism to assess, score and recognise these high-potential SMEs that would allow us to manage them in terms of driving positive change and economic progress.
The E50 Award, for nearly two decades since its inception in 1997, has gained a reputation for being one of the most credible and meaningful platforms in terms of creating greater visibility for our SMEs to showcase their capabilities and establish their prominence, not just as successful enterprises, but also as innovative national assets and global players.
The E50 Award has proven to be an important and relevant initiative that enhances the visibility of winning companies by providing them with a distinctive advantage to accelerate their growth beyond borders as highly productive and globally competitive brands and companies.
The award has indeed generated many success stories for aspiring companies to emulate.
Dewina Food Industries, for example, is a pioneer in the retort pouch manufacturing system for traditional Malay dishes and synonymous with the brand “Brahim”, and it is the first company to supply halal and retort pouch packaging products to the United Nations.
Subsequent to its success as a runner-up at the E50 2013 Award, Dewina secured a contract to supply its range of products to All Nippon Airways of Japan.
Another inspirational story is Sym World Innovation — the E50 Award 2013 winner — which is involved in integrated marketing communications. Leveraging on the “Green Lane Policy”, it expanded into digital advertising that led to its market expansion in both domestic and international markets. Sym World is now in collaboration with China-based PPTV advertising.
Mahatma Gandhi once said: “The future depends on what you do
today.”
Hence, SMEs should embolden themselves and take progressive actions and be in the forefront of economic development.
I would say that a good “report card” attesting to the success of the E50 Award is the accomplishments of the 615 winners of the award (from a total of 1,854 participating companies to date).
I am proud to have witnessed 60 companies from the pool of the E50 fraternity listed on Bursa Malaysia — 46 on the Main Market and 14 on the ACE Market. Indeed, the E50 Award is symbolic to the ever-evolving success of the Malaysian SME community, and the winning firms are those that fund managers, private equity interests and venture capitalists look out for.
The 18th edition of the E50 Award this year is jointly organised by SME Corp and Deloitte Malaysia with the support of RHB Bank, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), Media Prima Bhd, Business Times, Malaysia SME and Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd.
Participation in the award is by invitation only, exclusive to SMEs with a rating of four-star and above under SME Corp’s SME Competitiveness Rating for Enhancement Programme (Score).
Again, this year, we looked for outstanding companies, not just based on their current performance but also on how they position themselves for the future — companies that are innovative, willing to take risks and have strong sustainability power.
This select group of SMEs are poised to reap numerous benefits and privileges, including special access to the winners’ circle for the latest and specific industry research reports, case studies and groundbreaking information.
Other benefits include access to TM’s Business Solutions Package, Fast Lane processing of loan applications, RHB Bank’s Business Platinum credit card and being featured in the Enterprise 50 homepage (www.e50.com.my).
Apart from the extensive publicity and media coverage, the Top 10 winners will also be invited to participate in Advanced Leadership Programmes at Ivy League Universities in the United Kingdom or the United States.
There was an overall increase of 25.45 per cent in applications for the award this year compared with last year. Greater participation was seen from the manufacturing sector with 44 per cent. Participation from professional management services, retail and wholesale and information and communication technologies were at 20 per cent, 10 per cent and seven per cent, respectively.
The E50 Award 2014 gala dinner, during which the Top 50 winners are unveiled, will be held on Friday in Kuala Lumpur. The event will be graced by International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
I must confess that this is one of the events that I personally look forward to every year. The pinnacle of the event is when the names of the winners are announced.
I salute and congratulate all the E50 2014 winners.