Forum: Vital role for Penang in growing the GBS sector

THE global business services (GBS) sector has proven its contribution and value to the business landscape over the years, said ACCA Malay­sia Advisory Committee president Datuk Dr Lukman Ibrahim.

“In the Asia Pacific region including Malaysia, an increasing number of companies have started to use shared services, outsourcing and global business services to improve quality, lower cost and increase efficiency.

“The early adopters of the shared services model were finance professionals and over 70% of Fortune 500 companies moved some component of their finance delivery into consolidated operations on a country, regional or global level,” said Dr Lukman in his welcome speech during the ACCA GBS Forum 2016: SSO to GBS - Level Up! at the E&O Hotel in Penang recently.

He said ACCA had been studying this trend since 2011 and it had projected that the GBS model would be a game-changer for the finance function.

“Chief finance officers are constantly under pressure to re-evaluate their finance delivery models to meet business essentials.

“They have to do more with less, improve controls, support growth and provide strategic counsel,” he said.

Dr Lukman noted that as the GBS industry continued to grow, it was vital for Malaysia to take advantage of the upcoming opportunities.

“Penang, as an established hub for GBS, will play a crucial part in maximising these prospects.

“Thanks to a vibrant economy, stable business environment and multi-lingual workforce, Malaysia has retained its position as the third most attractive location globally for shared services,” he said.

Dr Lukman added that Malaysia had held on to the position for 10 years, with India and China in the top two spots.

“We have also partnered with TalentCorp to enhance awareness on the GBS sector among university undergraduates.

“The partnership involves supporting 100 students from Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to take up the ACCA GBS Certificate module,” he said.

The forum, which was co-organised by ACCA and Xtrategize Technologies, saw industry leaders sharing their strategies and ideas on how they managed to transform their organisations or helped others transform theirs.