KOTA KINABALU (May 9): Small Medium Enterprise Association of Sabah (SME Sabah) president Foo Ngee Kee was bestowed The National Outstanding Entrepreneurs Lifetime Achievement Award for contributing to the society and business community.
Foo was selected by KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific, Malaysia’s leading independent think tank for the award which was presented by Dato Sri Alexander Nanta Linggi, the Minister of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affair.
The award was presented to entrepreneurs who have demonstrated their vision and leadership in the successful transformation of their business, particularly those who have excelled in difficult times during the global pandemic.
Foo was also conferred a professorship by the North Borneo University College (NBUC) in recognition of his outstanding contribution and lifelong services in the field of business entrepreneurship.
The professorship was presented by the Chancellor of NBUC, Toh Puan Datuk Seri Panglima Dr Hajah Norlidah Binti Tan Sri Datuk R.M. Jasni, at the third Convocation Ceremony 2022 on March 17.
Foo said he was surprised, but nonetheless, elated at the conferment of professorship and national outstanding entrepreneur award.
“It was rare that a Sabahan was selected to receive the prestigious award by KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific, alongside previous distinguished recipients from major corporations in West Malaysia,” he said in an interview here.
He expressed gratitude to the KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific and North Borneo University College for the recognitions.
He also thanked the government agencies and organizations, including the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), State Economic Planning Unit (UPEN), State Ministry of Finance, Asian Development Bank, MBSB Bank and Rating Agency Malaysia for inviting him to share his ideas to the government and public.
Foo has accumulated a wealth of experience with his business in investment and financial advisory, trading of food and beverage (F&B) products, import and export of F&B products and hotel management.
He founded SME Sabah in 2018 and has since been vocal about issues affecting the business community and provided proposals to the government on ways to spur SME development in Sabah.
He is also a co-founder and president of Sabah SME Mobile Truck Association, aimed at helping young people to use mobile truck business as a startup for their entrepreneurship journey.
In addition, Foo is working closely with Ministry of Industrial Development (MID) to set up a product centre and retail store in GM Klang Mall, Selangor, to bring Sabah products to West Malaysia.
Foo also serves as a national council member in SME Malaysia and an advisor to Malaysia Cross Border E-Commerce Association, Malaysia-China Chamber of Commerce (Sabah Branch) and Sabah-China Chamber of Commerce, as well as the Sabah head of SME Development and Trade and Investment Facilitation cum Kota Kinabalu District chairman of BIMP-EAGA Business Council (Sabah Chapter).
In fact, he had delivered an investment talk to some 50 SMEs from Klang in April, some of whom are now keen to explore the opportunities in Sabah.
He plans to reach out to SMEs in Penang and Johor soon to woo them to Sabah.
He said there are many advantages to investing in Sabah, the main appeal being the state’s strategic location within the Brunei Darussalam–Indonesia–Malaysia–Philippines East ASEAN Growth Area (BIMP-EAGA) region and access to North Asia markets such as China, Korea and Japan.
Sabah is also blessed with natural resources that are stable source of raw materials for industries, he said.
Furthermore, Foo pointed out that manufacturers will save on logistic costs in shipping their goods from Kota Kinabalu to West Malaysia due to imbalance of cargo with containers returning to Kuala Lumpur costing one-third only of the costs.
Manufacturers of supply chain items will be more inclined to source from local suppliers as well, as they need not keep a large inventory to avoid running out of materials that are crucial to their production due to uncertain shipment dates, he said.
Additionally, he said labour are readily available and at a lower cost in Sabah, compared to higher wages in Klang Valley due to high cost of living and strong labour demand.
“According to Sabah Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Yakub Khan, there are 148,200 unemployed people in Sabah.
“Our youths will be very willing to work in factory if investors are to come here.”
Foo said Sabah had not been very attractive to investors in the past due to the small market here.
However, he said the relocation of Indonesia’s capital to Nusantara in East Kalimantan has made Sabah incredibly appealing because the market has expanded from merely three million population in Sabah to more than 20 million in the Borneo island, including 15 million population in Kalimantan and another three million in Sarawak.
“Aside from opportunities in building the capital, SMEs in Sabah can supply goods to the existing market of 15 million in Kalimantan.
“When the road to Kalimantan is completed, goods from Sabah can be delivered overnight across the border by road, which will be cheap and fast.”
Foo stressed that it was important for SMEs in Sabah to venture into Nusantara in the early stage to build relationships with their local counterparts to gain a foothold before international investors landed at the new capital.
“In doing so, our SMEs will have an advantage with their relationship with the locals against major investors that are bound to dominate the market in Nusantara in time to come.”
On whether Sabah SMEs are ready in terms of their capacity to leverage on the development of Nusantara, Foo believed that the technology transfer of peninsular investors to their local partners through joint venture would be able to elevate the SMEs in Sabah.
“With technology transfer from West to East Malaysia, I think we have a good chance of penetrating into Kalimantan.”
He said domestic direct investment (DDI) or foreign direct investment (FDI) in Sabah would create job opportunities for locals and stimulate the economy.
On top of that, Foo said the investors would motivate local SMEs to improve, similar to how the Covid-19 pandemic had forced senior SMEs to embrace digitalization out of necessity.
“To be a successful entrepreneur, you must always seek continuous improvement.”
“If you don’t embrace digitalization, you will become a dinosaur and will not be able to survive. As a similie, I can’t imagine how an entrepreneur nowadays can operate if he does not use a mobile phone.”
Realizing this, he said the government has taken the initiative to provide various forms of training and financial aids to help SMEs digitalize their business, including via e-commerce.
“More importantly, entrepreneurs must put in the hard work to achieve success.
“Nothing will progress if we are not willing to work hard,” he stressed.
Source: https://www.theborneopost.com/2022/05/09/sabahan-receives-entrepreneur-award/