A night to highlight top SMEs

PETALING JAYA: The 11th edition of the Star Outstanding Business Awards (SOBA) will unveil this year’s best local non-listed companies in the upcoming SOBA 2020 Gala Night.

Starting at 6.30pm on Wednesday, the awards night will be held at the Imperial Ballroom of One World Hotel here.

The culmination of a year’s worth of various activities and initiatives, the SOBA 2020 Gala Night comes on the heels of The Star’s golden jubilee launch on March 11 to mark five decades of growing with and shaping the nation together.

Aimed at recognising the vital role local businesses, especially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), play in the country’s economic growth towards nation-building, this year’s SOBA is an unprecedented one, as it is the first year it introduced an online submission feature along with virtual judging.

Moreover, SOBA 2020 introduced two new categories to better reflect the diversification of the country’s SMEs, namely “Best in Customer Service” and “Best in Retail”.

The “Best in Customer Service” category serves to recognise companies providing exemplary service to their clients, while the “Best in Retail” category highlights innovative, creative and top-class retailers across the country.

As with the other categories, there will be two tiers of the award based on company turnover (up to RM25mil and above RM25mil).

Also leading up to the SOBA 2020 Gala Night were the free capacity building series SOBA Learn Aspire Build (LAB), which were entirely conducted online through a series of webinars.

Running the course of 2020, these webinars actively invited leading industry leaders and players to share business insights into alleviating challenges stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Winners of SOBA 2020 will clinch advertising space worth over RM1mil on Star Media Group’s (SMG) platforms, alongside other benefits.

SOBA 2020 is organised by SMG with Digi, PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd and RHB Bank Bhd as main sponsors, Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd as co-sponsor and the Malaysian External Trade Development Corporation as official trade promotion partner.

It is endorsed by the International Trade and Industry Ministry, supported by Bursa Malaysia and audited by BDO with Dimsum Entertainment, 988 and Suria as official media partners.

The awards, which mark the achievements of enterprises that have made a difference to the nation’s economy by opening new frontiers, aim to inspire and steer local, non-listed companies towards greater success by promoting business excellence and stimulating positive competition.

For more information on SOBA 2020, email Lily or Poh Ern at [e-mail] or visit www.soba.com.my.