Curtin Consultancy links Research Project Agreement with Miri Chinese Chamber Commerce & Industry

MIRI, 24 May 2006 – In supporting the Government’s efforts in making Miri a regional centre for economic development and hub for educational excellence, Miri Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MCCCI) today appointed Curtin Consultancy Services (M) Sdn Bhd (CCS) to undertake a Business Confidence Survey in Miri.

Signatories to the Research Project Agreement were Mr Sim Hock Guan, Chairman of MCCCI and Professor Ruth Marquis, the Director, CCS and Dean, Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak, Malaysia. (Curtin Sarawak) witnessed by YBhg Dato Wee Han Wen, Mayor, Miri City.

Others present at the ceremony were Management Committee members of MCCCI and Research Analysts from Curtin Sarawak.

Mr Sim Hock Guan, Chairman, MCCCI said, “Miri, as a growing city needs to evaluate the business confidence level as well as the sustainability of businesses. Business confidence can be defined as the degree of sentiment towards risk taken by businesses where the reaction of business people to their economic environment can be interpreted as being a function of their perceptions and evaluation of current business conditions and expectation of future eventualities. The level of these two psychological identities of perceptions and expectations directly impacts the human nature behaviour of business people. And actions taken by business can, to a large degree, be ascribed to the level of business confidence.”

Mr Sim hopes the outcome of the survey would provide an indicator of current business conditions for economic policy makers and business entrepreneurs.

He pointed out that the research to be carried in Miri has four objectives:

1. To track business conditions for the year 2005;
2. To establish expectations of business conditions for the year 2006;
3. To measure overall confidence among businesses and
4. To get better understanding of local and external issues affecting business profitability, growth and sustainability.

Mr Sim informed that this was the first time a survey of this nature was initiated and executed by MCCCI and urged all business enterprises to co-operate and participate in the said survey. In order to gather statistically significant results and to achieve the objectives of the survey, he encouraged business enterprises to allocate some time to answer and return the questionnaires promptly to the secretariat of the MCCCI.

Professor Dr Ruth Marquis, Director, CCS and Dean, Curtin University of Technology Sarawak said, “The business confidence survey to be conducted by CCS in Miri provides an indicator of short-term business conditions for economic policy makers and business managers.

The information gathered will provide a better understanding of Miri city’s economy, future expectations of the business community and the respective organisation’s prospects. The feedback and perceptions of business owners are tremendously useful as companies will now have information about consumers’ demand.”

As CCS draws on the expertise of the academic staff of Curtin Sarawak, the business confidence survey will be conducted and managed by Mr Keling Stevenson Boniface Ancheh, Ms Pauline Ho Poh Ling and Mr Anbalagan Krishnan from the School of Business.

“This research will be a quantitative study employing a large-scale survey as the methodology. The secretariat of the MCCCI will assist in the data collection. The instrument used for data collection will be a self-administered questionnaire, together with duly stamped returned envelopes that will be mailed to businesses in and around Miri. Recipients of the questionnaire are encouraged to participate in the survey by answering the self-administered questionnaire and returning using the duly stamped returned envelopes provided.” Professor Dr Ruth added.

The research survey carried out in Miri will be divided into four areas, namely:

Part A – perception of the economic performance;
Part B – business performance of firms;
Part C – business sustainability and
Part D – demographic profile of firms.

The questionnaire, together with the duly stamped returned envelopes, will be mailed to the business enterprises selected in the sample. A letter from MCCCI will accompany the questionnaire as the cover letter to explain the purposes of the questionnaire and the survey.

The survey questionnaire would be answered without having to state the name of the firm. In addition, Mr Sim further reassured all business enterprises that the information provided would be kept strictly confidential and viewed in aggregate form by industry sector only. Thus, he encouraged all business enterprises to comfortably participate in this business confidence survey, without causing any detrimental effect to their respective businesses.

MCCCI since its establishment 75 years ago has been strengthening trade and members welfare, paying attention to local basic infrastructure development and the country’s economic development

MCCCI pays close attention to the political, educational and social aspects of the Miri business community and regularly conducts dialogue sessions with various Government departments and Miri Municipal Council on various issues concerning local infrastructure development, community and problems of its members.

CCS, a commercial arm of Curtin Sarawak was incorporated in Malaysia in 2002 under the Companies Act 1965 and draws on the expertise of the academic staff of Curtin Sarawak in Miri and Bentley, Australia campuses respectively.

Curtin Sarawak was established in February 1999 in partnership with the Sarawak Government. It is the first offshore campus of the Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia and also the first foreign university campus to be set up in East Malaysia. In November 1999, Curtin Sarawak was awarded the Multimedia Super Corridor status. In December 2004, Curtin Sarawak was awarded the prestigious IRPA grant (Intensification of Research in Priority Areas) from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment.

Curtin Sarawak’s next intake will be in July 2006, and recruitment sessions are currently ongoing throughout the region. Application for admission form for Curtin Sarawak programs can be downloaded at http://futurestudents.curtin.edu.my/how-to-apply/.

With students drawn from various countries, Curtin Sarawak offers an affordable education and a unique international and cross-cultural learning experience. The ultimate reward is the attainment of a prestigious internationally acclaimed Curtin degree.

Picture 1: Signatories to the Research Project Agreement : Mr Sim Hock Guan, Chairman of MCCCI and Professor Ruth Marquis, the Director, CCS and Dean, Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak, Malaysia. (Curtin Sarawak) witnessed by YBhg Dato Wee Han Wen, Mayor, Miri City.

Picture 2: Mr Sim Hock Guan delivers his speech