KUALA LUMPUR - The Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (Samenta) will continue to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to better understand digitalisation, automation and meet environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.
Its national president, Datuk William Ng, said this was because SMEs faced challenges of labour shortage, low productivity, rising costs and compliance issues related to new ESG standards.
"Many SMEs are already aware of the importance of digitalisation but lack the know-how and resources to digitalise effectively.
"We have been working with various government agencies to help SMEs digitalise and automate effectively, and this year, we will continue to focus on doing so,” he said in a statement in conjunction with the association’s annual general (AGM) meeting.
Ng said that with more stringent ESG standards and carbon-related policies such as the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), local SMEs would also need to be able to measure their carbon output and report on their environmental, social and governance policies and improvements to remain competitive.
"We are already receiving reports of SMEs being shut out of the supply chain because of this, and so this is highly critical. Samenta is helping SMEs to better understand these constantly evolving requirements and do their best to meet them,” he said.
During the AGM, Samenta appointed a new team for the 2023-2026 term. Besides Ng, the new deputy president would be Calvin Kwan, while Yeoh Seng Hooi and Fan Kah Seong were retained as secretary-general and national treasurer, respectively.
There was a changing of the guard at the regional level, with Ryan Lee and Edwin Ng taking over as chairman of the southern and central regions, respectively.
Established in 1986, Samenta is Malaysia’s oldest and largest association of SMEs, with over 3,000 members nationwide. - Bernama