ASEAN TRADERS ASSOCIATION, CGC TO HOLD COACHING SESSION FOR SMES

By Nurul Hanis Izmir

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 22 (Bernama) -- The Asean Traders Association (Perda-Asean) is organising a coaching session on business financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the quest to extend financial assistance to them.

Scheduled for Jan 25 at Bangunan CGC, Kelana Business Centre, Petaling Jaya, the one-day event, which also entails one-on-one financial advisory session, will be held in collaboration with Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC).

bootstrap slideshow

Asean Traders Association president Datuk Moehamad Izat Emir said an online registration session between SMEs and 22 banks and four financing agencies would also be conducted during the event.

“The banks and financing agencies are ready to assist the companies if they need any funding.

“Even though some SMEs, especially that of Bumiputera, have new and innovative ideas, they shy away from the funds offered, as they are afraid they will not be able to service the loans.

“Such thinking is wrong. You need to borrow to grow and as you pay you grow,” he told Bernama.

He said Bumiputera firms should bare in mind that they needed to borrow to enable them to grow or diversify their business, as well as to expand abroad.

“We will be coaching them. In fact, is the role of the association is not just to assist Bumiputera companies, but also Malaysian and ASEAN companies,” he said, adding that the coaching session with CGC is open to only 100 companies and so far 77 had already registered.

The fee is RM50 for Asean Traders Association members and RM70 for non-members. More information could be obtained from the association’s website.

Moehamad Izat lamented a misconception that Bumiputera firms normally traded on a small scale, as there were a number of medium and big merchants whose names were household words.

 “Becoming visionary entreprenuers has nothing to do with race. The Malays are also good in business, but they need to buckle up on how to make more profit, manage their funds well and invest their money,” he opined.

The former president of Malaysian Businessmen and Industrialists Association Malaysia (Perdasama) also called Malay companies to improve their weaknesses, including upgrading their marketing skills and mastering other languages such as English and Mandarin.

He said they also needed to get acquainted with overseas markets by travelling abroad.

“I have been involved in this industry for over 40 years and I attribute my success to my father who was a Turkish entrepreneur involved in the pharmaceutical industry.

“When I was young, I used to follow him anywhere he went. So, I automatically learned how to communicate with people in English, as well as picked up promotion and branding skills. I’d gained confidence through all these,” he said.

Besides being involved in the pharmaceutical industry, he has also ventured into the power, building material, food and beverages, and laundry businesses.

Moehamad Izat aspires to assist Malay companies to expand globally.

“Now is the time to use ASEAN as a trading platform and Bumiputera firms should take this opportunity. We have similarity in terms of food for example, so let’s explore this area as travelling within the region is much cheaper than going to the US and the EU,” he said.

According to an ICAEW report, ASEAN, which is home to 635.9 million people, is expected to record a gross domestic product growth of 5.3 per cent in 2018, higher than the global economic growth of 3.8 per cent.

-- BERNAMA