JOHOR BARU: Small and medium enterprises must embrace technology if they want to move forward, said SME Association of Malaysia deputy president Teh Kee Sin.

“By embracing technology, operational costs will be more effective and be more profitable in the long-term. The SMEs must adapt to the changes and be more innovative.

“The association will play its part in ensuring that all SMEs embrace technology to ensure greater growth for their businesses,” he said.

He noted that the country’s SME lost out on the laptop assembly business some 15 years ago as Malaysia’s labour cost was higher.

“We eventually lost to countries such as Vietnam and China, who have adapted fast to new technologies and appealed more to international investors,” he said.

“Some 10,000 SMEs in the country must realise that technology is the key to survival to remain competitive in the global market. The rest of the world is moving forward, thus we must not be left behind,” he said, adding that the key for every business was continuous innovation.

He said this in response to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s reminder to SMEs to adopt technology as a core part of their business strategy to gain a sustainable competitive edge, at the Chinese New Year open house and briefing on the Malaysian Innovation Agency Act 2010, organised by the SME Association of Malaysia last Friday.

Teh applauded the recently-launched Special Innovation Unit (Unik), which aimed at assisting SMEs in innovating their businesses.

“We are glad to hear that Unik is manned by industry experts, who will in turn introduce new technologies for the SMEs.