Thursday, 31 March 2016 UTM and Universitas Riau to share expertise to develop SMIs for economic growth

thestar.com.my, Universitas Riau - Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) and Indonesia’s Universitas Riau will be collaborating to share expertise and develop the Small and Medium Industry (SMI).

 

UTM deputy vice-chancellor Prof Dr Azlan Abdul Rahman said that representatives from the two universities would source for commonalities of SMIs in Riau and Johor besides exchanging knowledge and expertise on the matter.

“Johor and Riau have a close history and this collaboration will further expand our relationship while we study the potential growth of SMIs in both places,” he said at the Johor-Riau SMI International seminar here on Tuesday.

Prof Azlan said that it was encouraging to see an increasing interest in SMI entrepreneurship, as businesses in the industry contributed to the country’s economy growth.

“In general, the development of SMI is to better the unemployment rate, increase growth of income, to lay out a more balanced income as well as to increase economy stability.

“Based on this mission, the development of SMI has become among top priority and a revamp is much needed for these SMI businesses to make it more competitive,” he added.

He noted that SMIs should look into major changes in terms of marketing, packaging, branding and presentation and customer services to expand their businesses further.

“On that note, this seminar will serve as a platform to discuss the necessary revamp, sharing of management skills as well as to expose the participants to success stories of local SMI entrepreneurs,” he explained.

Prof Azlan also said that UTM has engaged with the Rumah Seri Kenangan Johor Baru, a home for the elderly under the Welfare Department, to help increase the sales of their handicraft to generate income for its occupants.

“Experts from the Management Faculty will conduct ground training to educate the occupants on packaging, labelling and branding for better quality products.

“Eventually, we are aiming to expand the training to other old folks homes with such programmes for the benefit of more,” he added.

During the seminar, UTM and Universitas Riau also signed a memorandum of understanding for collaboration between the two institutes such as teaching and learning student mobility and lecturer exchange programmes.