PRESIDENTS LUNCHEON ADDRESS - MICCI ANNUAL LUNCHEON
16th JUNE 2009
Yang Berhormat Dato’ Mustapa Mohamed,
Yang Berbahagia Tan Sri Mohd. Sidek Hj. Hassan,
Tan Sri, Tan Sri,
Dato, Dato,
Your Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon,
May I begin by extending a warm welcome to Yang Berhormat Dato’ Mustapa as the Guest of Honour at our Annual Luncheon this year.
While this is Yang Berhormat Dato’s first attendance at our annual luncheon in his capacity as Minister of International Trade and Industry, he is no stranger to the Chamber and we have had the pleasure and privilege of working with him previously in other ministries and agencies. Your support for the private sector in Malaysia is widely recognised and we look forward to continuing this relationship into the future.
Similarly, I would like to thank the large number of diplomatic, commercial and economic representatives from the foreign missions for taking time out to attend this event. I would also like to welcome guests from Government ministries, departments and agencies, with which the Chamber has on-going contact throughout the year.
I would also like to recognise the large number of media representatives with us today. Your support is, as always, much appreciated.
And finally, a particular thank you to all our Members and their guests for your presence. MICCI’s success is, in no small measure, due to your ongoing support. For over 170 years MICCI has been an active participant in the business environment in Malaysia and we are proud of the support we have provided to the business community over the years.
Ladies and Gentlemen ... following the Chamber’s Annual General Meeting this morning, I was honoured to be elected President of MICCI.
This is a significant responsibility at any time, but in today’s world, where economic crisis and uncertainty is the order of the day, the task takes on new dimensions of challenge.
The origins of the situation we all find ourselves in today has been analysed intensively and I do not propose to go over old ground or to engage in retrospection. Everyone has been affected to some degree or other whether they are commercial organisations, trade associations or even the Government. Suffice to say there may be some visible signs of recovery but the path back to solid performance and growth will still be slow and difficult. No-one is sure of the type of recovery, whether it is V shaped or U shaped or even W shaped.
But whether Malaysia can continue to deliver a positive, though reduced GDP in 2009 or moves into technical recession, is not wholly within our control given the interrelation that exists with the rest of the global economy. Thus, we should now focus on the future and prepare our business community to face the challenges and opportunities in the near future. It is certainly possible that global consumer purchasing patterns may have been altered for some considerable time and this will impact on an exporting nation such as ours. New areas for growth will therefore be necessary. Both the private sector and Government will have to work together to create the right environment to attract new businesses to Malaysia and not to our competitors.
In this context Chambers of Commerce can play a major role given their comprehensive coverage of the business community and their international linkages. Government on the other hand must create the necessary competitive environment so that opportunities can be translated into investment on the ground.
Let me now share with you our plans of how MICCI will champion Malaysian and International Business over the next 12 months.
At this luncheon last year our then incoming President set a forward looking agenda for the 12 months to mid-2009. Looking at three of the most important elements of this agenda we can identify progress made to date and the platform from which we will continue to advance in 2009 and 2010.
Firstly, in terms of SME support …
The MICCI SME mentoring programme is underway with an initial 8 multi-national companies participating. Their varied expertise means that they can provide a range of mentoring opportunities that are being assembled into a formal structure now and will be available to SMEs within 8 weeks. For 2009 our objective is to expand and to have not less than 20 MNCs offering SME mentoring under this programme within 12 months.
Additionally, an SME capacity building programme has been under careful consideration and will be presented to SMIDEC for their evaluation shortly. This has taken some time to design since rather than just offer SME courses through our internationally accredited training facilities, the Chamber took the view that training without monitoring and follow-up was incomplete. Thus we are incorporating an on-line tracking and performance review package into our programme that will enable SMEs to monitor their progress and identify bottlenecks early for remedial action. Finally, the programme is designed to complement the SMIDEC SCORE ranking system and ensure a holistic approach is adopted to maximize SME benefits.
The MICCI programme is targeted to coach 3 managers from 50 SMEs per year producing some 150 trained managers annually who will in turn generate a multiplier effect within the SMR community as labour mobility distributes them around the marketplace.
Secondly, there is our agenda for trade and investment promotion …
Limited resources make it difficult for Chambers to regularly mount substantial overseas missions and the largest trading nations already have well established trade representation in Malaysia today. There is however a large and growing group of developing countries with trade and investment potential that do not have strong trade representation in Kuala Lumpur and whose business communities do not have much information regarding opportunities for trade and investment with Malaysia.
With these countries in mind MICCI has set up its International Business Linkage Programme (IBLP), which seeks to leverage the worldwide Chamber-to-Chamber network. Through a series of MOUs MICCI has initiated bi-lateral agreements with a number of national and regional Chambers around the world to help disseminate information on investment and trade opportunities in Malaysia and to receive similar inputs from the corresponding countries. Most recently within the last month, MOUs have been signed with Columbia and Ukraine and a further MOU will be signed with Zimbabwe before the end of July. Additional cooperative discussions are underway also with the Chinese International Economic Cooperation Association (CIECA) in Taipei.
In the next 12 months we expect to add another 8 agreements for trade expansion and collaboration with Chambers worldwide.
Thirdly, services sector development …
Two years ago at this luncheon event MICCI launched the Coalition of Service Industries Malaysia (CSIM), in response to calls in the Industrial Master Plan 3 for a private sector platform for services development and liberalisation. CSIM, as the first private sector forum for services, has attracted over 30 services associations and a number of corporate bodies and has worked with other international services coalitions to promote a liberalisation agenda globally while at the same time participating in domestic services forums such as the Malaysian Services Development Council and Malaysian Logistics Council and their focus groups.
New strategic partnerships have been formed with WTO’s International Trade Center (ITC) in Geneva and though participation in conferences organised by UNCTAD. A local programme of outreach is also being planned nationally utilizing MICCI’s network of offices throughout Peninsula and East Malaysia.
The development of services however is not merely a question of liberalisation of the Malaysian services sector and foreign access to local markets.
Actively promoting Malaysian services globally is necessary to take advantage of reciprocal market access to other countries’ service sectors and create opportunities for Malaysian service providers. MICCI and CSIM is part of a worldwide Chamber network covering thousands of Chambers and companies worldwide at both regional and global levels. As noted earlier MICCI’s Business Linkage Programme will provide a conduit for information and business opportunities to be exchanged with a growing number of countries. Similarly through its membership of the Global Services Network, World Chambers Network and The Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce & Industry (CACCI), MICCI and CSIM will ensure that key service sectors in Malaysia are given the necessary exposure to facilitate investment and increased trade in services.
In regard to CACCI, MICCI has offered through its Coalition of Services Industries Malaysia (CSIM), to host a collaborative services information hub in Kuala Lumpur for the 26 National Chambers making up the Confederation of Asia Pacific Chambers of Commerce & Industry membership.
One further aspect of services development has been given considerable attention by MICCI and CSIM. While we focus on the trade and investment aspects of services we must not overlook the fact that this sector requires as much attention to R&D and innovation as manufacturing. New systems and processes do not spring fully formed out of nowhere. There is a need to establish available best practices and then to build on these to generate newer state of the art systems. To paraphrase a well-known saying … “we see further because we stand on the shoulders of giants”.
Accordingly MICCI and CSIM are actively engaged in discussions for the formation of a Malaysian Institute for Services Research and Innovation (MISRI). Consultation is being carried out with other similar bodies such as the Services Research and Innovation Institute (SRII) in USA to establish parameters for such a facility. Bringing together private sector and academia will in our opinion create the potential for new and dynamic advances in services and make Malaysia a centre of excellence in this regard. We are aware of similar ambitions in other countries in the region and will be pursuing this initiative vigorously.
Within a matter of weeks MICCI and CSIM expect to finalise the first of a number of private sector taskforces aimed at supporting the government’s call for the private sector to lead services development in a new model economy. We will bring together the technical expertise and experience of the private hospital community along with the global networking and promotional capabilities of the Chamber movement to accelerate the development of a best of class health tourism sector in Malaysia with global recognition. In all of this we will actively cooperate with the relevant government agencies so that actions are aligned to national objectives as well as fulfilling business aspirations.
Ladies and gentlemen, all the above initiatives fulfill two important functions. Firstly they generate opportunities for new and enhanced business for MICCI Members and secondly they support the various national aspirations and initiatives for growth and a new economic model where innovation and knowledge are key components.
Along with these specific programmes, MICCI will continue as always to offer constructive feedback to government through any and all forums and will stress the need for ongoing collaboration along with increased transparency in legislative and governmental processes.
Sustaining our national competitiveness will continue to be an ongoing challenge in the period ahead. The IMD World Competitiveness rankings for 2009 continue to show an improvement from 19 to 18 in Malaysia’s ranking but further improvement is always necessary.
As has been remarked in the past, MICCI and other national Chambers and associations have an important task to accomplish in support of the Malaysian economic agenda. We are close to our Members, the companies and businesses making up the economic landscape, and we know therefore what it is that these businesses require in order to grow and prosper. Through this knowledge we are able to act as ambassadors for Malaysia in our dealings with other Chambers worldwide and investors on a global basis.
Nevertheless, our resources are limited and we also require support from government if we are to deliver our full potential. We have made some suggestions to Yang Berhormat Dato’ via the annual MITI dialogue submission and we hope due consideration can be given.
Ladies and gentlemen, before closing, I would like to register my appreciation to our outgoing President, Dr. Rajah Kumar, whose tireless efforts on behalf of the Chamber has helped MICCI deliver so much in the last year. Dr. Kumar’s enthusiasm and energy knows no bounds and the Chamber will miss his insight and advice. As Past President he still has an important role to play and we hope he will find himself able to continue to contribute to MICCI no matter where he is located.
As a Chamber with a significant expatriate membership we are used to changes in the composition of our General Committee as the cycle of mobility takes friends and colleagues away from Malaysia and brings new relationships to us.
May I also take this opportunity to thank Tengku Dato Zainal Rashid for his 20 years of service to the Chamber on the General Committee. A General Committee member since 1989, Convenor of our Infrastructure Standing Committee for most of that time and our President in 2003 / 2004, His support for MICCI is legendary and covers all aspects of the Chamber’s work including social events, policy development, Chamber representation at national level and of course upholding our honour on the golf course. Words cannot express our gratitude for all his endeavours and while he has stepped down formally from the General Committee I am sure he will still be around to offer his invaluable experience and expertise in the future. Tengku, our sincere thanks for all you have done for MICCI over the years and our best wishes go with you.
Also let me thank our General Committee for their efforts over the past year. The senior CEOs who make up the bulk of the MICCI General Committee serve as volunteers despite a massive workload arising from their own business interests. Their willingness to support the Chamber and the business community at large is an example of their commitment to the Chamber in contributing to an improved business environment for the benefit of all.
In addition let me also express thanks to our Chamber Secretariat for their ongoing commitment to deliver ever-improved services to MICCI Members.
Finally, I would like to take this opportunity to again thank Yang Berhormat Dato’ for being with us today. I am certain his leadership will continue to ensure that MITI is the benchmark by which Malaysian government performance is measured ... Thank you
Irene Dorner
President, MICCI
16th June 2009
