The SME Association of Malaysia (SME Malaysia), National Tech Association of Malaysia (PIKOM) and Huawei Technologies (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd (Huawei), through its Huawei ASEAN Academy, have joined hands to train and future-ready more than 10,000 members of the small and medium enterprises (SME) and tech community over a period of one year.
The collaboration which kick-started today will cover the following areas via the training programme:
- Guidance on industry trends, to raise general ICT awareness
- Ecosystem talent enablement, to offer technical training and certification
- Skills improvement for members of the SME and tech community
It hopes to raise and develop quality talent models for digital transformation of Malaysia’s SMEs, as more SMEs are realising the urgent need to adopt technology in order to survive.
Officiating the event today was Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) Deputy Secretary General, Datuk Bahria Mohd Tamil.
Present today was SME Malaysia National President Datuk Michael Kang, PIKOM Deputy Chairman Dato’ Sean Seah and Huawei Malaysia Vice-President of Human Resources Mr Choh Yau Meng.
The collaboration comes in line with the Malaysia Digital Economy Blueprint, or MyDIGITAL, which was launched by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on February 19 this year.
MyDIGITAL maps out the many aspects of the digital economy as it looks to ensuring that the public, as well as the business and government sectors, are digitally enabled and integrated, with building an agile and competent digital talent as one of its key strategies.
SME Malaysia National President Datuk Michael Kang said, “This collaboration is a significant step towards the digitisation of our economy and SMEs in particular and to provide entrepreneurial and employment opportunities as we grapple with the ever-changing market conditions.”
“We are very excited to be part of this journey. This is another milestone for our PIKOM Academy to further expand our programmes in producing tech talents. With more than 1,000 corporate members in the tech association that constantly seek trainings, upskilling and reskilling for new and current staff, we look forward to be working alongside Huawei and SME Malaysia,” said Dato’ Sean Seah, PIKOM Deputy Chairman.
In his speech, Huawei Malaysia Vice-President of Human Resources Mr Choh Yau Meng said that a whole world of opportunities will be unlocked for Malaysia’s SMEs once they overcome the barriers of technology.
“For many SMEs, technology is a barrier in itself, but it is also the key for them not only to survive, but also to thrive. Therefore, as a global technology leader, Huawei believes that it is our duty to use our expertise and resources such as 5G, Cloud and AI, to help these SMEs as well as tech associations incorporate digital solutions,” Mr. Choh said, adding that Huawei realises the crucial role SMEs play in the economy, and that the company is committed to driving digital growth among SMEs and supporting the Malaysian government’s vision to digitally transform this sector.
The Huawei ASEAN Academy was established in May 2020 as an initiative to train and promote talent for Malaysia’s digital economy to drive digital advancements and position the country as a digital hub for the region.
As of March 2021, the Huawei ASEAN Academy has trained more than 8,800 Malaysians and intends to train 50,000 ICT talents over the next five years.
Huawei Malaysia plans to continue providing talent training services for Malaysia’s digital economy through Huawei’s online and offline platforms.
