SME 2022 - SME Leaders Programme 2023

Micro and small businesses (MSMEs) in Malaysia are vital to the economy, making up more than 95% of businesses, contributing 38% to the nation’s annual GDP, and employing more than 7 million Malaysians. Yet the sector is also the one that struggles the most during tough times, as highlighted during the recent lockdowns that saw thousands of small businesses cease operations.

While external factors play a role, leadership often determines the success and longevity of a business, especially small and medium businesses founded on passion and vision, and led by solo entrepreneurs or small teams operating on limited resources and budget. The quality of leadership has a bigger impact in smaller organisations than in larger companies with established structures and teams.

The PLF SME Leaders Programme 2022 highlights successful leadership traits and practices among MSME leaders while at the same time facilitating knowledge and idea-sharing for mutual enrichment. The programme also features information sessions on the support and aid available to the MSME sector. This event will pack CEO Spotlights, Breakout Sessions, and Info Briefs into a unique one-day in-person programme in Putrajaya.

Admission is free but seats are limited.

WHEN
8.30am – 5.30pm
Wednesday, 25th May 2022 (Refreshments will be provided)

WHERE
Perdana Leadership Foundation,
No.1, Jalan P8H, Precinct 8, Putrajaya Google Maps | Waze

Who Should Attend
Aspiring and Present Micro, Small, and Medium Business Owners and Leaders

Due to SOPs, there are a limited number of seats available so do register early, and if you are unable to attend, please cancel your seat reservation.

Please note that this is an in-person (physical) event. Only fully vaccinated individuals with no overseas travel in the two weeks immediately prior to the event are eligible to attend. Please do NOT attend if you are experiencing fever, coughs, cold, nausea, or any other symptoms indicative of Covid-19.

The PLF SME Leaders Programme 2022 is for business owners and leaders who seek to:

Agenda

ITINERARY

Time	Duration	Agenda
8:30 AM	30 mins	Coffee & Networking
8:45 AM	35 mins	Welcome Address by YBhg Tan Sri Azman Hashim, Chairman, Board of Trustees of Perdana Leadership Foundation. Opening Address by YBhg. Dato’ Suriani binti Dato’ Ahmad, Secretary General, Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives, & Chair of ASEAN Coordinating Committee on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (ACCMSME)
9:20 AM	45 mins	CEO Spotlight “Building a Successful Long-lasting Business” with Q&A Speaker 1: Puan Saliza Abdullah, CEO, BG Capital Holdings Sdn Bhd Speaker 2: Mr Aizat Rahim, MD, Dropee Speaker 3: Ms See Wai Hun, Co-Founder & CEO, JurisTech
10:05 AM	40 mins	Time-Block A: Parallel Breakout Sessions I, II, III Breakout Session I: “Traits of Successful Entrepreneurship” with Puan Saliza Abdullah, CEO, BG Capital Holdings Sdn Bhd Breakout Session II: “Financing for Expansion” with Mr Chai Kien Poon, Country Head, Funding Societies Malaysia Breakout Session III: “Nurturing Talent & Innovation for Growth” with Puan Safura Atan, Managing Partner of StratNaviGo Consulting PLT
10:45 AM	15 mins	Coffee Break
11:00 AM	1 hour 15 mins	Special Dialogue Session with YBhg Tan Sri Azman Hashim, Chairman, Board of Trustees of Perdana Leadership Foundation
12:15 PM	1 hour 30 mins	Lunch
1:45 PM	45 mins	CEO Spotlight “Building Cash Reserves for Resilience” Speaker 1: Mr Wong Kah Meng, Co-founder and CEO, Funding Societies Malaysia Speaker 2: Mr Mohamed Zakariya Othman, Head of Big Data Management and General Manager, TFX Islamic
2:30 PM	20 mins	Talk: “Funding Options & Grants for MSMEs” Mr Rizal Nainy, CEO, SME Corporation Malaysia
2:50 PM	40 mins	Parallel Breakout Sessions I, II, III Breakout Session I: “Traits of Successful Entrepreneurship” with Mr Arthur Lai, Fellow, The Chartered Institute of Marketing (UK) Breakout Session II: “Financing for Expansion” with Tuan Hj Hamdan Habibollah, Head of Stakeholders Management, SME Bank, and Mr Mohamed Zakariya Othman, Head of Big Data Management and General Manager, TFX Islamic Breakout Session III: “Nurturing Talent & Innovation for Growth” with Dr Hanafiah Yussof, Founder, Board of Director and Group CEO, Robopreneur Sdn Bhd
3:30 PM	15 mins	Coffee Break
3:45 PM	45 mins	CEO Spotlight “Challenges in Innovation” with Q&A Speaker 1: Mr Azlan Shah Alladin, Founder, Kelava Speaker 2: Dr Hanafiah Yussof, Founder, Board of Director and Group CEO, Robopreneur Sdn Bhd Speaker 3: Ms Melissa Sim, CEO, AdEasy
4:30 PM	20 mins	Talk: “Digitalisation: How-To for MSMEs” Mr Mohd Redzuan Affandi bin Abdul Rahim, Director, Digital Adoption Department, Digital Economy Ecosystem Division, MDeC
4:50 PM	40 mins	Closing Session with Remarks by YABhg Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Prime Minister of Malaysia and Honorary President, Perdana Leadership Foundation Token of Appreciation to Sponsors by YBhg Tan Sri Nik Mohamed Nik Yaacob, Executive Director, Perdana Leadership Foundation
5:30 PM		Refreshments & End

BREAKOUT SESSIONS	TOPIC
Parallel Breakout I	Traits of Successful Entrepreneurship
Parallel Breakout II	Financing for Expansion
Parallel Breakout III	Nurturing Talent & Innovation for Growth

CEO SPOTLIGHT

Ever wondered how other business leaders navigated their businesses through turbulent times and are still standing strong? The CEO Spotlight will host micro and small business leaders in conversations that will unearth the lessons learned and pointers forward for inspiration and practical take-aways.

CEO Spotlight #1 - Building a Long-Lasting Successful Business

What does it take to navigate the perilous waters of small business ownership and ensure the company remains intact through storms of recessions and other troubles? Are five-year business plans really necessary when the environment changes so rapidly? In this session, the focus is on long-term success and the CEOs featured will share from their experience what it takes to build it.

CEO Spotlight #2 - Building Cash Reserves for Resilience

When times get tough and cash flow dries up, survival depends on how much money a company has in the bank. Saving and budgeting are easier said than done, however, especially if you are running a business operating on daily cash. What can a business do to clad itself for future eventualities and build a respectable cash reserve to tide it over the difficult times sure to come? This session features two business leaders who know what it means to be “cash-strapped” and their strategies on how to emerge stronger from financial black holes.

CEO Spotlight #3 - Challenges in Innovation

Innovate or die, goes the saying, and never is that more true than for small businesses in current times. Studies have confirmed a positive relationship between innovation and organisational competitiveness yet many SMEs in Malaysia under-invest in innovation. Why is this so? What stands in the way of innovation for small and medium-sized businesses and how best can a resource-limited organisation innovate? In this session, two CEOs from two very different companies tell their stories of innovation and the lessons learned.

INFO BRIEF

Short and punchy info-packed talks to aid small biz leaders by those in the know.

Info Briefing 1 - Funding Options & Grants for MSMEs

Believe it or not, there are many business grants and loan schemes available to small businesses in Malaysia. However, each comes with its own set of criteria as well as application steps, and the procedural maze can be bewildering. This talk will give a bird’s (or a drone’s, if you are so inclined) eyeview of the financing possibilities that can be tapped by small business owners as well as the institutions that disburse them.

Info Briefing 2 - Digitalisation: How-To for MSMEs

“Go digital” is the catchphrase flung like confetti to small business owners during the pandemic lockdowns but the question is where and how do you start? This talk demystifies the process and presents a simple starting point for small businesses that will not stretch an already over-stretched budget.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS

It’s more than just talk. Peer discussions are a great way to challenge assumptions, refine decisions, and build networks. When diverse minds get together, the result can be new ideas and synergies. Led by entrepreneurs themselves, the sessions enable knowledge-sharing as well as healthy exchanges among small biz leaders, and, who knows, they may even lead to new collaborations.

Breakout Session 1 - Traits of Successful Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders

#notalist. So you think you know it all when it comes to what makes a business entrepreneur successful. You may be surprised to find out that your list may not be universally shared. Whether you’re an experienced business leader or a new entrepreneur, this session will have you reflect on what constitutes good leadership and how they translate to business decisions and affect culture.

Breakout Session 2 - Financing for Expansion: Resources & Challenges

Where business is concerned, money is the lifeblood of enterprise. Your business won’t be able to expand if its bank balance is anorexic. The general understanding is that there seem to be slim pickings where financing is concerned for micro- and small businesses, but is this really the case? This breakout session will have you comparing notes with, and picking up leads on financing options as well as how to increase your chances of obtaining funding.

Breakout Session 3 - Nurturing Talent and Innovation for Growth

It’s not just money that seeds growth, businesses need people and R&D, too. Talent management that results in higher retention of staff saves cost in the long run, and even tiny enterprises need to innovate to stand out from the pack and generate higher sales. How can resource-limited businesses implement talent management and invest in R&D? Find out how other business leaders do it in this session, and compare notes.

Register

Our event is open to present and aspiring business owners and leaders. Admission is free but seats are limited, so register early to avoid disappointment.

Please note the following precautions:

You need to be fully vaccinated with a MySJ certificate that you would need to show at registration.
You have not travelled overseas within the two weeks prior to the event.
You are not a close contact of any Covid-positive individual.
You need to take a home Covid-19 test or clinic-administered Covid-19
test within two days prior to the event. Snap a photo of the test result and e-mail to prior to the event or at registration.
Please do NOT attend if you have fever, cough, a cold, or any other symptoms indicative of Covid-19, even if your test results come up negative.
All participants need to be masked at all times, except during meals.
Muslim participants need to bring their own prayer clothes and prayer mat
as none will be provided in our building’s surau.
There will be sanitisers placed at the event venue and all participants are
encouraged to sanitise or wash their hands regularly.

If you have reserved a seat but are unable to attend, please cancel your attendance or let us know smeleaders@perdana.org.my so that we can allocate your seat to someone else.

Contact Us

Have questions? Contact us. We promise to get back to you quickly.

smeleaders@perdana.org.my

603-8885-8960‬
ext. 8965/8952/8953

Locate Us

How to get to the event venue

We are situated in the nation’s administrative heart of Putrajaya, 20 minutes from KL International Airport and 45 minutes from Kuala Lumpur.

OUR ADDRESS
Perdana Leadership Foundation
No 1, Jalan P8H, Precinct 8, 62250,
Putrajaya, Wilayah Persekutuan
Malaysia

PUBLIC TRANSPORT
The nearest rail stop is the ERL station at Precinct 7, a 10-minute drive away from our Foundation. The ERL goes from KL Sentral to KLIA2, with a stop at Putrajaya.

About Us

Perdana Leadership Foundation (Co. No. 200301002222 (604642-u))

Perdana Leadership Foundation was chartered in January 2003 as a non-profit organisation, founded with gifts from people who supported the vision of a thriving research and learning institution dedicated to the study of Malaysian leadership and nation-building. It is unique in the sense that it began as an entirely private sector initiative, seed-funded and organised by private sector individuals and corporations. Most of the Foundation’s present trustees were the early benefactors of this Foundation.

The Foundation’s physical home in Precinct 8, Putrajaya, was completed in October 2003. The stately building now houses the Perdana Library, an auditorium as well as a multi-purpose hall in addition to the offices of the Foundation’s Honorary President, Malaysia’s 4th and 7th Prime Minister, YABhg Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

A tax-exempt, non-profit organisation, the Foundation intends to become the premier institution for the study of Malaysia’s Prime Ministers and the central resource centre for research into national stewardship as well as a platform for reflection, debate, and discussion with distinguished figures in Malaysian leadership.

The Perdana Leadership Foundation was officially launched on the 10th May 2005, by Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, 5th Prime Minister of Malaysia.

Visit our website at www.perdana.org.my

Perdana Leadership Foundation aims to:

SME LEADERS PROGRAMME 2023

KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP EXCELLENCE