Malaysia 2008: Investing in new opportunities

As it continues its evolution from agriculture and mining to a hub of manufacturing, financial services and telecommunications, Malaysia is emerging as a regional powerhouse in Southeast Asia

Established as a unified state in 1963, Malaysia today is a newly industrialized country that is taking its place on the world stage as one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing success stories. That global competitiveness is attracting some of the world’s best-known companies to set up operations in this country of 25 million people to capitalize on the favorable business climate.

For centuries, Peninsular Malaysia and East Malaysia – the two regions of the country separated by the South China Sea – largely relied on agriculture, forestry and minerals (chiefly tin and petroleum). At one point, in fact, Malaysia was the world’s largest producer of tin, natural rubber and palm oil.

However, through careful central planning, Malaysia continues its successful transition to a modern economy driven by various technology sectors (including electronics manufacturing), financial services and telecommunications. Perhaps it’s no surprise that the World Economic Forum on East Asia held its 2008 meeting in Kuala Lumpur a few months ago.

For SAS, Malaysia represents an exciting convergence of opportunities. Our solutions are already highly regarded by leading global brands with operations in Malaysia – companies such as Dell, HSBC, Motorola and Citibank. That has given us the opportunity to create additional momentum among companies with Malaysian headquarters, such as Resorts World, Parkson, ICB Banking Group and Perodua Manufacturing. For SAS, three industry sectors represent significant opportunities outside of the traditional financial services sector: public sector/government, commercial manufacturing and communications.

Enterprise intelligence for government
In 2006, the federal government’s Economic Planning Unit unveiled the Ninth Malaysia Plan (9MP), its comprehensive blueprint for economic growth. The five-year plan outlines the Malaysian government’s goals and planned investments for infrastructure, healthcare, environment, agriculture, education, culture/heritage and more as it attempts to spur the country’s economy to greater capacity and higher standards.

9MP represents an ideal business opportunity and road map for how SAS can assist agencies across the federal
government in fulfilling their ambitious mission. The Malaysian federal government was the first customer for SAS Malaysia when it was established in 1986 – and our commitment to helping government continue to adopt meaningful information technology to improve the lives of citizens and businesses remains steadfast.

A range of departments, agencies and ministries – such as the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank, the Department of Income Tax and the Department of Statistics – rely on SAS for data aggregation, reporting and analysis. Many of these ministries have deployed a broad portfolio of custom-built transaction systems and cannot individually provide the holistic perspective or predictive capabilities that government directors and ministers need.

The SAS^® Enterprise Intelligence Platform provides business intelligence and analytics, including KPIs and scorecards, that form the basis of numerous custom applications. For instance, SAS helps the Ministry of Finance prepare its closely watched Housing Index and forecast the pricing of commercial, residential and industrial property. 

Commercial manufacturing
Over the past few decades, Malaysia has seen the rise of many national and multinational manufacturers, creating a market segment whose importance has increased significantly for SAS. Traditionally, Malaysia has had few economic development zones for encouraging foreign investment in manufacturing and production. The value proposition for factories in these areas had been efficiency, and companies were focused on operational improvements rather than strategic issues. Supply chain automation and management were the dominant concerns.

That’s changing. Today, as the manufacturing sector matures in Malaysia, the market is primed for the value that SAS offers. There are thousands of manufacturers – in everything from electronics to life sciences – that are now starting to look beyond operational efficiency to embrace business intelligence and create smarter processes.

In view of this, SAS Malaysia started a new initiative this year called the “SAS for Mass Campaign” primarily to raise more awareness of BI and SAS in this market segment. The objective of this campaign is to reach the masses in this emerging market, raise our profile and eventually become a dominant brand in this sector.

Not surprisingly given the relative immaturity of this market, no BI firm has a leadership position yet in this segment. Our aim is for SAS to be the first name that comes to mind when these manufacturing companies think about BI. It is first about capturing the mind share, and second, about making BI solutions more accessible to this market – bringing BI to the masses.

To achieve this, we are running seminars on BI that cater toward manufacturing – even for the sub-sectors within manufacturing – forming strategic partnerships with technology partners and industry bodies that have a presence in this sector and integrating PR activities that are aligned to the message targeting this segment.  

Communications
Malaysia’s communications and multimedia industry is highly competitive and is represented by only a handful of local and multinational fixed-line and cellular operators. The major players in this market are Telekom Malaysia, Maxis Communications (Maxis) and DiGi. Government-controlled fixed-line operator Telekom Malaysia dominates the fixed-line market while its subsidiary, Celcom, offers telephony service revenues. Telekom Malaysia is also a major player in the booming Internet sector with its broadband services.

Against this backdrop, achieving sustainable competitive advantage can only mean one thing for these communication companies – the ability to consistently attract and retain profitable customers. Companies like Telekom and Maxis are among those who are already using SAS to make smarter decisions to minimize churn and maximize profits.

Ultimately, Malaysia is emerging as one of the truly world-class centers of commerce and manufacturing in the Pacific Rim. We’re delighted that SAS has such a strong presence and reputation among our countrymen. Together, we have the opportunity to deliver world-class solutions that help government agencies and corporations achieve new levels of
efficiency and success. It is an endeavor that we undertake with great pride.

Bio: Jimmy Cheah joined SAS Malaysia as Country Manager in April 2003. Throughout his five years at the company, SAS Malaysia has experienced record growth, doubling new sales each year. The company also saw a significant increase in employee headcount as well as growth in customer portfolio.

Jimmy Cheah joined SAS Malaysia as Country Manager in April 2003. Throughout his five years at the company, SAS Malaysia has experienced record growth, doubling new sales each year.