MRCA 8TV Awards Speech.

MRCA 8TV Awards Speech.

Assalamualaikum and Salam 1Malaysia.

Yang Berbahagia Datuk Johan Jaaffar, Chairman of Media Prima Berhad

Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Tay Sim Kim, President of MRCA

Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Amrin Awaluddin, Group Managing Director, Media Prima Berhad

Ahmad Izham Omar, Chief Operating Officer,Primeworks Studios, Media Prima Berhad

Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Nelson Kwok, Deputy President of MRCA

Yang Berbahagia Dato’ Eddie Choon, Founder President of MRCA

Mr. Lee Hwa Cheng, Immediate Past President of MRCA

Mr. Albert Chiang, Honorary President of MRCA

Mr. Goh Hin San, Chinese Content Advisor, Media Prima Berhad

Ms. Shareen Ooi, Chief Marketing Officer, Television Networks, Media Prima Berhad

1. I would like to begin by extending my sincere appreciation to the organizers for hosting me tonight. I am delighted to be a part of this event that honours our local entrepreneurs. This topic of entrepreneurship in one that I personally take great interest in.

2. The Government has pulled out all the stops to encourage entrepreneurial spirit and to boost our SMEs participation in our national economy. This is in tandem with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report that has found “fostering entrepreneurship means fostering a country's competitiveness”.

3. Therefore, allow me to briefly outline some of the Governments policies and initiatives in this regard. Let’s start with the overall benefits that our Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) has brought to the Rakyat.

4. FDI Inflows and Total Approved Investments (in the Manufacturing, Services and Primary Sectors) have surged to new heights in 2011.

5. UNCTAD ranks Malaysia as a top host country for FDI in 2011-2013.

6. Economic Transformation Plan objectives are on target as Domestic Investment has overtaken Foreign Investment as the main driver of the economy. And by that we mean better quality investments in high-technology now form a large portion of new investments.

7. Malaysia’s competitiveness ranking improves significantly in independent surveys conducted by the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. The World Bank Doing Business Report in 2012 states that Malaysia has improved up five places to 18th position from 23rd in 2011. The World Economic Forum, Global Competitiveness Report for 2011-2012, ranked Malaysia 21st out of 142 countries thus gaining five spots up from the previous years. The Institute for Management Development World Competitiveness Yearbook 2011 states that Malaysia is still among the top 20 most competitive economies. This is just the beginning; MITI aims to make Malaysia amongst the top 10 nations by 2015 in the World Bank Doing Business Report.

8. Total FDI inflows into Malaysia in 2011 increased by 12.3 per cent to RM32.9 billion as compared with RM29.3 billion in 2010. The manufacturing sector accounted for the largest share of FDI inflows accounting for 50.1 per cent of total FDI inflows followed by the services sector (27.3%), mining and quarrying (22.2%) and agriculture, forestry and fishing (0.4%).

9. As you well know, Malaysia has set its sights to become a high-income and knowledge-based economy under the New Economic Model (NEM) introduced by the Government. To achieve this aim, the role of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs in contributing to our national economic growth has become even more important.

10. Furthermore, the impact of globalisation, liberalisation of markets and the advent of technology and innovation have shown that today’s businesses can no longer continue to operate as how it used to in the recent past. This indeed is a defining moment especially for our entrepreneurs and SMEs, as they shift into higher gear and transform their business operations in order to protect their market share in this ever-changing and challenging business environment.

11. Therefore, to strengthen the economic foundation of SMEs in key industries, the Malaysian Government continues to provide strong support in developing competitive and resilient SMEs.

12. Most of the support programs provided by the Malaysian Government are focused towards building the capacity and capability of our SMEs, especially in the areas of entrepreneurship and human capital development which are vital in fostering productivity-driven business and economic growth.

13. At the same time, better access to financing is also given due emphasis particularly in promoting SMEs in new growth areas which include those identified as the National Key Economic Areas (NKEA).

14. Innovation and creativity is the way forward for a developing and progressive nation like Malaysia and in our quest towards becoming a high-income economy. Stronger economic growth can certainly be achieved through technological innovation.

15. The retail industry is another major contributor to the Malaysian Gross National Income (GNI), with almost half a million jobs generated in this sector. Acknowledging its importance to the Malaysian economic growth, retail has been designated as a National Key Economic Area (NKEA) under the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), and targeted to more than double its GNI contribution by the year 2020.

16. These said initiatives and incentives are but a fraction of what the Government has instituted to help entrepreneurs and fortify our economy. Too many to mention here but we are indeed serious in improving the lives of the Rakyat. I welcome you to MITI if you require further information or assistance. We will do our best.

Honourable guests,

17.When I am asked what differentiates an entrepreneur from the rest, I tell them you have to have true grit. It is your fortitude and determination that makes the difference. I am sure that many of you present tonight have your own success stories and if it were not for your grit; success would not have been achievable.

18. My advice to young entrepreneurs is to hunker down for the long run.

19. In the words of the late Steve Jobs-“I’m convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance.”

20. And so before I end my short speech, I would like to commend Media Prima in particular 8TV as well as NTV7, Nanyang Siang Pau and MRCA for giving airtime and publicity to the nominees of tonight’s awards. This event complements the Government’s efforts to promote entrepreneurship and we can thank the organizers for their contributions. I would urge other private entities to assist the Government in fostering entrepreneurship particularly among our youth.

21. To my mind the categories of Entrepreneur of the Year, Most Innovative Entrepreneur as well as Up and Coming Entrepreneur includes the right aspects of assessment.

22.I wish the finalists the best of luck. You are all success stories as far as I am concerned. And with that, in keeping with the time allotted to me I take my leave.

23.Thank you.