CIMB Bank Berhad and CIMB Islamic Bank Berhad (CIMB) recently introduced MicroBizReady, a programme offering mentoring and education support to micro-SMEs with tools that will help them thrive, not only in the current challenging Covid-19 environment but also in the longer term.
The Chief Executive Officer of CIMB Islamic, Ahmad Shahriman Mohd Shariff said, the bank is delighted to be part of the early growth phase of local small businesses especially in the current economic climate.
“Aligning to Bank Negara Malaysia’s Value-based Intermediation concept, MicroBizReady is specifically created to develop an entrepreneurship programme that is sustainable for our community.
“SMEs form the largest segment of businesses in Malaysia and we need to ensure they sustain and remain relevant in the competitive Malaysian market.
“This is very much in line with one of our Forward23+ strategic themes namely, ‘Customer Centricity’, where we place customers at the heart of everything we do, by helping them get through this difficult time.
“We hope that the training and support provided will help them towards a brighter future,” he said.
A three day workshop, MicroBizReady benefitted 30 micro-SMEs from the food and beverage, catering, retail and service industries.
Areas covered included Financing 101, on how SMEs can improve their credit, as well as digitalisation, to help them set up an e-commerce site, be on top of a search engine results, optimise e-Commerce logistics, human resources tools online and cloud-based Point of Sale System.
To ensure a competitive edge, they were also given training on brand strategy, business strategy, exploring new business models to improve cash flow as well as crisis management.
-NIAGATIMES