KUALA LUMPUR, March 6 — Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to be strong to withstand all the onslaughts and challenges coming their way, said The BrandLaureate world president Dr KK Johan.
He said the SMEs, which are the country’s economic backbone, had gone through many trials and tribulations, especially in the last few months when the economy was down and business sentiment was weak.
“And now, with the COVID-19 outbreak, every business is badly affected by the virus,” he said at the BrandLaureate SMEs Best Brands of the Decade Awards here tonight.
However, despite the challenges, he noted that the SMEs had stayed strong and resilient to fight the battle to ensure their brands’ sustainability.
Johan also encouraged them to move into the new decade by making their brands stronger and bolder and to have the right mindset to achieve greater success.
“Rise to the occasion, take the bull by the horns and run. Give your brand a bull run in 2020. Every move you make determines where your brand will land,” he said.
Organised by The World Brands Foundation, the world’s only brands and branding foundation, The BrandLaureate SMEs BestBrands of The Decade Award 2020 celebrates the very best of the SME industry with the theme “What Does It Take To Be?”
During the night, over 50 companies and individuals received The BrandLaureate Awards which were divided into six categories, including Brand Champion of The Decade Awards 2020 Man of The Year, Brand Builder of the Decade Awards 2020, and Champion of The Decade Awards 2020 Brand of The Year.
Other categories were Most Valued BestBrands of the Decade Awards 2020, SMEs Strategic Business Partners of The Decade Awards 2020, and BestBrands of The Decade Award 2020.
As for The BrandLaureate SMEs Most Valued BestBrands of the Decade Awards 2020, recipients included Brickfields Asia College, Bidor Kwong Heng, Q-Dees, Seamaster Paint and SA Travel, among others.
The award presentation was followed by the SMEs Strategic Business Partners of The Decade Awards 2020 which honoured organisations that had been the key drivers in nurturing and supporting SMEs to grow their businesses.
They include Malaysian National News Agency (BERNAMA), Malaysian Technology Development Corp Sdn Bhd, SME Corp Malaysia and Halal Development Corp Bhd.