SHAH ALAM - Various parties are celebrating the Sinar Harian Business Awards (BISA) organised by Sinar Harian that will be held in February.
Kuching i-CATS University College economic expert Professor Datuk Dr Shazali Abu Mansor said the award was a good step to not only give recognition to the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), but to also indirectly increase industry players' motivation.
He said it was hoped that the initiative would be organised consistently every year for all industry players and Malaysians to identify the best SMEs in the country.
"We see that the entertainment and media industry are well-known for giving out awards including for singing competitions. I hope Sinar Harian would be known with the BISA award to honor SMEs," he told Sinar Harian.
BISA is set to take place on Feb 23.
It was organised to recognise and appreciate local businesses primarily Malaysia's SME industry players through eight criteria.
Each candidate would be chosen based on leadership, competitiveness, business network range, capabilities in contributing towards the socioeconomic development, creation of job opportunities for locals as well as preparing the human resources with integrity and comprehensively curbing corruption.
Various award categories were offered by Sinar Harian which will be won by entrepreneurs from all kinds of sectors and industries.
Shazali said SMEs should be the backbone of the country's economy especially in terms of providing additional values to the people and the country.
He said compared to large-scale companies, SMEs have given a more substantial and unique impact primarily towards preparing job opportunities including the goods supply chain.
"What's interesting is that the positive effects to the industry could be seen as a whole including in areas outside of the cities, compared to major companies that focused on major cities.
"The economic excess given is unique. Even though it is on a smaller scale, it has a higher impact," he said.
Shazali said with the RM572.6 billion contribution towards the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), SMEs which also covered micro businesses contributed to 90 per cent of the total businesses registered in Malaysia.
He also advised SMEs to give more attention towards marketing its companies' products to a much bigger global market with their unique approach able to cover a multitude of platforms including on social media.