by HARIZAH KAMEL/ pic by MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

CELCOM Axiata Bhd has unveiled its national campaign, “Celcom Business: Reimagine SME for Tomorrow”, to accelerate digital adoption among local small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Its CEO Mohamad Idham Nawawi said as the nation recovers from the Covid-19 pandemic, the telecommunications company (telco) is working towards ensuring SMEs are able to rise again with other sectors.

“In 2019, SMEs drove 38.9% to national GDP. Therefore, it is important to ensure the growth and sustainability of SMEs is given the attention and quick remedy to recover within this period.

“This campaign is one of the channels for us to help Malaysian businesses create quick opportunities and generate new revenue to drive future growth,” he said at the launch of the campaign in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

It will also create a “win-win-win” situation to benefit the SMEs and consumers, and achieve the nation’s aspiration towards a digital economy, he added.

The campaign, which will run until year-end, will see Celcom collaborating with 13 partners to help SMEs hone their business operations and ensure business sustainability.

All parties involved will be promoting relevant technology-related awareness through knowledge sharing and skill enhancement programmes, as well as co-development of multiple digital programmes for SMEs.

The partners include the Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC), Majlis Amanah Rakyat, SME Corp Malaysia, Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd, Bank Simpanan Nasional and Alliance Bank Bhd.

The Malay Chamber of Commerce, Usahanita Kebangsaan, SME Association, Selangor Freight Forwarders and Logistics Association, Microsoft, Slurp! and Avana Asia are also involved in the campaign.

Through the campaign, participating SMEs will have the opportunity to be digitally empowered with Celcom’s one-stop SME digital kit, Celcom Business Suite, which offers multiple digital solutions.

Via Celcom’s participation as a technology solutions partner with MDEC, it also enables the suite’s offerings to qualify for the SME Business Digitalisation Grant, which offers SMEs a 50% matching grant of up to RM5,000 for any subscription of digital services.

Celcom Business Suite also qualifies SMEs applications for the SME Digital Matching Grant under the short-term National Economic Recovery Plan.