With the Malaysian government recently announcing that it will place a greater emphasis on the Southeast Asian nation’s digital economy, the timing of the timing of the ITX Asia 2016 – an open market for technology vendors and buyers, delivering both current and future products and solutions – at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre on September 29-20 could not have been better.
ITX Asia 2016 is the only business-to-business information communications technology (ICT) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) trade event that connects technology vendors, suppliers and consultants in Malaysia and across Asia. With the theme ‘Tech Forward 2017,’ ITX Asia 2016 focused on four key areas pertinent to Asia, namely cloud computing, E-payments, the Internet of things (IOT) and security.
Monica Viladot, managing director of executive recruitment company Monroe Consulting Group, said the event, which included a conference, SME CEO forum and laboratory and business clinics, was a great opportunity to meet C-level executives of established and new companies operating in the technology industry, from not only Malaysia, but throughout Southeast Asia and the region.
“Monroe operates in China, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines, Chile and Mexico in a number of sectors, including tech and information technology (IT),” Monica said. “There are literally 100 technology venders and IT solutions providers covering a range of industries gathered under one roof.”
She said the industry event was an important opportunity for Monroe consultants to expand their industry knowledge and to also be able to share their insights on recruitment and other human resources (HR) concerns in the technology and associated industries.
“The Malaysian government estimates that the digital economy contributes about 16 percent of GDP,” Monica said. “The government has recently stated that they want to see this figure at 20 percent by 2020, which is why they want to focus on this in the 2017 budget.”
Dean Nazmuddin, a recruitment consultant with Monroe, said Malaysia was experiencing a shortage of qualified and experienced technology professionals needed to continue the growth of the industry.
“The numbers of graduates are increasing but a number of vendors and companies have complained that many lack the soft skills, such as problem-solving abilities and communication skills, they need to contribute to their companies and build good careers,” Dean said. “Another issue is that many of our best and brightest are leaving Malaysia to work abroad.”
Monroe, which focuses on emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific, including Malaysia, was a multiple international-award winning recruitment company, with almost 15 years’ experience sourcing the best talent for leading companies, including in the technology sector, Dean said.