THE Young Entrepreneur Society (YES) is an online programme organised by the Plantation Industries and Commodities Ministry.It was launched by Deputy Plantation Industries and Commodities Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wee Jeck Seng in conjunction with the #KeluargaMalaysia: Minggu Agrikomoditi 2021@ MyKomoditi 2021.
Initiated by Malaysian Timber Council (MTC), the YES programme is specially tailored for founders and successors of family-owned businesses to prepare them for eventual succession.
This is part of MTC’s efforts to nurture competent, knowledgeable and successful leaders in the timber industry.
MTC chief executive officer Muhtar Suhaili said, “There is no silver bullet to ensure a smooth transition but with careful and measured approaches, succession planning is within the control of all businesses, regardless of size.
“For this programme, MTC partnered with Vistage Malaysia by sponsoring 70% of the total training fee for both founders and successors.”The programme’s participants meet once a month to exchange experiences, ideas, opinions, challenges and opportunities with the aim of providing each other with direct and honest feedback on management issues.
The insights received from these sessions would help them make the right decisions, thus reducing risks and uncertainties, he added.
The YES programme commenced in June and to date, has welcomed the participation of seven founders and 23 successors from the timber industry.
Through the interactive My Vistage platform, participants can gain access to a global community of more than 23,000 members for best practices and bench-marking measures.
As the third largest commodity sector after oil palm and rubber, the timber industry has become one of the main contributors in the country’s export revenue.
Exports of timber and timber products have increased by 9.8% to RM12.9bil in the first seven months of this year compared to the corresponding period in 2020.
This shows that despite the challenges brought on by Covid-19, the timber industry remains resilient.
Hence the importance of emphasising business survival to maintain such a performance.
