The British Malaysia Chamber of Commerce (BMCC) hosted their inaugural Business Excellence Award on 12th July 2018, at the JW Marriott, Kuala Lumpur. This prestigious event aimed to recognise the very best of individuals and companies across a range of categories. More than 450 attendees from all industries turned up in their evening best, enlivening the Gala Dinner in conjunction with the BMCC’s 55th anniversary.
Newly appointed Minister of Economic Affairs, YB Dato’ Seri Mohamed Azmin Ali and Minister of International Trade & Investment, YB Darrell Leiking were amongst the night’s Guests of Honour alongside British High Commissioner to Malaysia, H.E. Vicki Treadell CMG MVO.
HSBC Malaysia stamped its mark as the event’s title sponsor. Managing Director and Country Head of Commercial Banking, Andrew Sill who is also the BMCC Chairman said “I am truly encouraged by the quality and quantity of submitted nominations for our first awards from both SMEs and large corporates. The awards aims to recognise the very best of individuals and companies across a range of categories and I would like to extend my hearty congratulations to all of those who have been shortlisted, having proven by merit that they have made significant strides and contributions towards trade and industry.
The winners on the night were Shell Malaysia Limited, claiming the ‘Investing in People’ award, British Council winning the ‘Diversity’ award and Tesco Stores Malaysia receiving the ‘UK Investor of the Year in Malaysia’ award. The ‘Technology & Innovation’ award which was divided into SME and Large Corporate categories was won by The Lost Food Project and Dyson Manufacturing Sdn Bhd respectively.
An honorary award was presented to YTL Corporation Berhad for ‘Malaysian Investor of the Year in the UK’ and the joint venture between Alexander Dennis Limited and Terberg Tractors Malaysia was recognised as the night’s ‘Outstanding UK-Malaysia Partnership’ award. Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin of Eco World International was also awarded the ‘UK-Malaysia Business Personality of the Year’ award.
The British High Commissioner to Malaysia, H.E. Vicki Treadell CMG MVO congratulated the winners and said, “The winners and the sectors they represent reflect the breadth and depth of the bilateral trade and investment relationship between Britain and Malaysia. By recognising these outstanding individuals and businesses and their success, we are both celebrating and reinforcing our bilateral economic partnership and our investment in each other.”
Aurelia Silva, Executive Director of the BMCC said: “2018 has been a year of great change for the Chamber. After 55 years operating as a Society, we are finally now a registered Company Limited by Guarantee. The sky is literally the limit and our first Business Excellence Awards is a testament to this ambition. It is designed to be a grand affair and we hope it will one day serve as a golden standard for recognising individual and business excellence in Malaysia.”
The BMCC, which has recently transitioned from a Society status to a Company Limited by Guarantee continues to serve its mandate of facilitating and enhancing bilateral trade relations between the two nations. The UK is a leading investor in Malaysia with an estimated cumulative investment of £20 billion over the last 30 years. Malaysia remains one of UK’s largest trading partner in the ASEAN region with many UK based companies benefitting from BMCC’s facilitative role through its wide-range of professional services and business networking events.
The BMCC Business Excellence Awards was co-sponsored by GIH London Chrysalis, CIMA, Eco World International, Petrofac and Allied Pickfords. Official Partners were Royal Selangor, The Edge Malaysia, BFM 89.0, ICAEW, British Airways, Aston Martin and Mini Malaysia.
