News Release - 20 June 2022

UOB Malaysia and The FinLab to accelerate digital transformation for women-led businesses through Jom Transform Programme

The Programme has enabled more than 400 SMEs to embark on their digitalisation journey since 2019

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 20 June 2022 – UOB Malaysia and The FinLab¹ today announced the fourth edition of the Jom Transform Programme². This year’s programme is set to empower women to transform their businesses through digital acceleration.

Jom Transform Programme (JTP) is specially-curated to provide advisory and assistance in the areas of digitalisation for Malaysia’s small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This year’s programme, themed ‘JTP: Womenpreneur Edition’, aims to support women entrepreneurs through digital solutions that drive productivity, save costs and grow revenue. The JTP will be conducted virtually on The FinLab Online³.

Ms Ng Wei Wei, Chief Executive Officer, UOB Malaysia said, “With women entrepreneurs making up only 20 per cent of Malaysian SMEs⁴, we see potential in supporting female-led businesses to thrive, particularly in e-commerce⁵. And this is why the Bank is creating an ecosystem through Jom Transform Programme to connect women entrepreneurs to one another and open doors to opportunities. As the needs of businesses evolve in line with new market realities, we want to also provide them with the right tools to future proof their businesses in this digitalised world.”

The first cohort of the JTP: The Womenpreneur Edition will undergo a three-week business transformation curriculum through The FinLab Online starting 28 June 2022. Apart from receiving the relevant knowledge, tools and skills to digitalise their businesses, participants will also be guided by subject matter experts and mentors from UOB and its regional ecosystem partners in the area of digital transformation. They will also have access to online workshops, video tutorials and webinars in digital marketing, business operations and e-commerce. To further accelerate their digitalisation efforts, participants will also enjoy complimentary subscriptions to JomX solution of choice including cloud accounting systems, artificial intelligence and data analytics, by a host of JTP ecosystem partners for up to 13 months⁶.

In the lead-up to the launch of the 2022 edition of JTP, UOB Malaysia hosted a virtual panel discussion on 14 June 2022 entitled, ‘Women Entrepreneurs Making A Leap Forward’. The panel discussion featured four women leaders across industries in education, fashion, wellness, and fitness to share their first-hand experience in their professional and entrepreneurial journey to the audience. The panel comprised of Ms Anne Tham, Founder of ACE EdVenture; Ms Joan Yeoh, Country Director of Love Bonito Malaysia; Ms Melissa Tan, CEO of Getha and Ms Toh Yen Kee, Co-founder of The Playground Fitness.

During the panel discussion, Ms Toh Yen Kee said, “When I first made the move to start my own enterprise, to look for the right solutions and assistance to accelerate my business transformation was a challenge. After having focused my effort to get the necessary funding, I realised that digitalisation is crucial for my business to implement across its different functions and to analyse its market competitiveness. A platform like JTP can provide the necessary information and mentorship that may complement other programmes that are already available to support women entrepreneurs.”

Since the launch of JTP in 2019, the Programme has enabled more than 400 Malaysian SMEs⁷ to embark on their digitalisation journey. To register interest for this year’s JTP and for further information, please visit https://thefinlab.com/jom-transform-programme-womenpreneurs-edition/.