23 July 2015
Kuala Lumpur: CIMB Group today launched its Bumiputera Vendor Development Programme (“CIMB BVDP”), a bespoke 30-month upskilling programme for Bumiputera vendors and service providers that supports the banking industry, with the aim of enhancing their competitiveness. This is in line with the national Bumiputera Economic Empowerment Agenda set out in 2013 and the MoU signed between CIMB and the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in November 2014 to promote Bumiputera entrepreneurship.
"CIMB is happy to do our part to support the Government’s call to strengthen Bumiputera vendors’ competitiveness. The challenges that these vendors face in the current operating environment are by no means easy. To be successful, they have to adopt a global mindset and possess the competitive spirit essential to grow beyond national borders. These companies must also demonstrate outstanding and superior service quality, offer competitive pricing and have the ability to manage their supply chain efficiently to compete at the highest level. We hope that the skills learned and knowledge gained from the CIMB BVDP will better equip them to compete not just in Malaysia but regionally and even globally," said Tengku Dato’ Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz, Group Chief Executive, CIMB Group, at the official launch of CIMB BVDP earlier today. Also present at the event were senior management of CIMB, representatives from Khazanah Nasional and other government-linked companies.
Six vendors, namely, Erat Harmoni Sdn Bhd, FM Media Sdn Bhd, Motiofixo Sdn Bhd, Professional Science Technologies Sdn Bhd, S&I Urban Designers Sdn Bhd and T-Melmax Sdn Bhd, have been selected to participate in the programme that started in July 2015.
The selection criteria for the vendors include vendors’ business stability and potential as well as their ability to commit to the programme for 30 months, including KPI monitoring and reporting.
CIMB is partnering with University Tun Abdul Razak (UNIRAZAK) to design customised programmes for each of the SMEs and that includes bringing in industry experts based on areas of need and formulating a Strategic Business Design (“SBD”) for each of the vendors.
CIMB’s approach to Bumiputera entrepreneurship empowerment is two pronged: individual-focused and organisation-focused. The CIMB Bumiputera Entrepreneurship Skills Transformation (CIMB BEST) programme, launched in 2014, focuses on uplifting individual Bumiputera entrepreneurs of various levels of experience and industry. It also offers the two top students of CIMB BEST a scholarship every year to pursue a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship. With the addition of BVDP to empower companies with true potential to further expand their expertise and standards, CIMB Group now offers empowerment programmes to both segments of the Bumiputera entrepreneur pool in Malaysia.
