Speaking during a webinar titled “The Next Big Thing: Powering Malaysia’s Digital Economy”, Free Malaysia Today’s managing director Azeem Abu Bakar said the media could play an important role in accelerating the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through publicity for their products and brands.
He said the media would also be able to provide these businesses with a voice when it comes to advocating public policy that can help them.
“We are open to working with high-potential SMEs to grow their businesses. Media companies like FMT can help boost the visibility of brands and their products.
“It’s all about working together to help them create a conducive environment, the right policy and mindset for their businesses to grow,” he said.
Noting that it would be tough for start-ups to “burn cash” to market their companies, Azeem said FMT was open to investing in high-potential start-ups by providing communication and marketing support, leading to better sales and developing brand equity.
He also said microfinancing providers, such as Funding Societies Malaysia, would need to ensure that the revenue and finances of SMEs were healthy, adding that media companies could help contribute to boosting their top line, improving cash flow and qualifying for financing.
As a result, Azeem said media companies can help grow the value of SMEs exponentially.
Head of strategic projects & operations of Funding Societies Malaysia Kien Poon Chai agreed that media companies had a big audience base that could help generate leads for SMEs.
“We have been around for five years and even though we have done a lot of marketing campaigns, there is still a big portion of the community which is not aware of our existence,” he said.
Kien said media companies that had a finger on the pulse of business trends and needs of SMEs could also help microfinancing agencies tailor their propositions in helping more companies.
Meanwhile, AirAsia Digital Group president Aireen Omar said there was a need to invest in talent by reskilling and upskilling them.
Aireen said AirAsia had created a reskilling programme that offered courses in digital marketing, cyber security and data science for their workforce in order to diversify their skills.
“We now have pilots who can code, aircraft engineers who’ve expanded their skills in software development and a baggage handler who is now a data analyst,” she said.
Aireen added that the airline was also providing these courses to the public.
This webinar was organised by the London School of Economics (LSE) alumni society of Malaysia. It was moderated by the co-founder of Brand Geeks Inc Manisah Sarujee and hosted by LSE alumni society of Malaysia president, Azman Shah.