WITH the rise of the new industrial technology, businesses have to continue to innovate to stay relevant.
Innovatif+ founder Mei Tan said it was timely for the next generation of business owners or entrepreneurs to step up and innovate.
“I see the importance of innovation in a traditional business.
“We have seen businesses last for decades and it is not easy to change something that have been established for so long.
“However, innovation is needed for businesses to stay relevant,” she said in her speech during the inaugural Asia Innovatif+ Summit and Awards at Setia SPICE Convention Centre today.
Tan said that although innovation was needed to grow and diversify businesses to face the digital era, it was equally important to preserve family culture and values.
“Growing a business through family values and culture will make it special,” she said.
Tan said the event connected ‘next generation’ family businesses with technology innovators.
“There are conferences, exhibitions, awards, workshops and networking,” she said.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said the event allowed the ‘next generation’ to view their family business as something that they could grow.
“It provides a platform for them to branch out, explore business opportunities and connect with other businesses.
“When we talk about the second generation of business, it can be about passing down a family business; or it can mean that a particular business is moving forward and adapting to the digital transformation,” Chow said.
Chow added: “If a business is doing well in its ‘first generation’, then it should be strenghten. However, I feel that businesses should diversify and be open to new business opportunities when the ‘second generation’ takes over.”
He also gave a short presentation on the Penang2030 vision.
“I have no reason to doubt that Penang can achieve more and prosper in the coming years if all of us – stakeholders and the state government – work together wholeheartedly towards realising Penang2030,” Chow said.
The two-day event, themed ‘Leading the Business of Tomorrow, Today’, attracted about 500 participants across Asia.
Also present were state Domestic and International Trade, Consumer Affairs and Entrepreneur Development Committee chairman Datuk Abdul Halim Hussain and Innovatif+ co-founder Steve Wee.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Nur Afiqah Zainudi
Video by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis