Curtin Sarawak presenting informative evening lecture for Miri business community on 2 November

Miri – 26 October, 2009 – Curtin University of Technology, Sarawak Malaysia (Curtin Sarawak)’s School of Business, in collaboration with the Companies Commission of Malaysia or Suruhanjaya Syarikat Malaysia (SSM), is presenting an evening lecture on ‘Integrating Corporate Governance and Corporate Responsibility into Small Medium Enterprise (SMEs) in the 21st Century Business Environment’.

Members of the business community in Miri are invited to attend the lecture from 6 pm to 9 pm on 2 November 2009 in the Harry Perkins Lecture Theatre at the university. It is the first time the Curtin Sarawak School of Business is holding a public lecture in the evening to make it convenient for business people and professionals to attend. Participation is free of charge.

The lecture will be delivered by Azryain Borhan, Director of SSM’s Corporate Development and Policy Division. Azryain’s portfolio includes corporate law reform, policy, domestic and international networking, economic research, statistics, accounting development, periodical reporting, risk management, project management and monitoring, as well as strategic planning.

Prior to assuming his position at SSM, he was the Assistant Vice President, Legal and Secretarial, of Khazanah Nasional Berhad, and prior to that, he was attached to the Securities Commission as a Senior Prosecuting Officer in its Enforcement Division and later as Senior Associate in its Securities Issues Division. He holds a Bachelor of Law degree from the International Islamic University Malaysia and was admitted as an advocate and solicitor to the High Court of Malaya in July 1999.

According to Azryain, the financial turbulence the world has experienced of late has made it evident that companies have to ‘buck up’ when it comes to corporate governance and corporate responsibility.

“Now more than ever, business owners have to be aware that the actions of individual businesses can indeed impact the overall economic stability of the country. Furthermore, shareholders’ activism is gaining momentum. Business organisations need to take corporate governance and corporate responsibility a whole lot more seriously if they wish to thrive in the 21st Century business environment,” he said.

“The objectives of the lecture include giving an overview of corporate governance and social responsibility amongst SMEs and amplifying the role played by directors and shareholders of SMEs. It is also an opportunity for business people to understand the perspective of the regulators in respect to corporate governance and corporate responsibility, so that they can start working towards complying with the requirements of the regulators,” he added.

Pauline Ho, head of the School of Business’ Department of Accounting, said that the lecture should be of particular interest to company directors, shareholders, accountants, auditors, financial controllers, academicians, students, professionals and anyone involved in the management of businesses.

She said that the idea of organising evening public lectures as a social contribution to the local business community as well as a means of promoting the School of Business was first mooted last year by Chan Kwok Mow, a lecturer at the school and coordinator of the event, and that the school was appreciative of Azryain’s services for this first evening lecture.

Pauline added that the topic of the lecture was a meaningful one for the School of Business as good corporate governance and corporate responsibility as part of business sustainability is a matter close to its heart.

“The School of Business maintains very close relationships with accounting professional bodies and our industry partners, and through our network, we were able to contact Azryain, who came highly recommended as an expert on corporate governance and corporate responsibility in SMEs,” Pauline related.

“Corporate responsibility reporting is still relatively new in Malaysia and so far it is only confined to PLCs. Thus, this lecture will be very helpful in disseminating the fundamentals of corporate governance and corporate responsibility to SMEs here. The local business community should not miss this opportunity,” said Pauline.

Those interested to attend the lecture can contact Pauline at 085-443939 extension 3943 or Chan Kwok Mow at 085-443939 extension 3844 for more information. Alternatively, they may also contact the School of Business’ administrative assistants at extension 3840 or 3916.

Azryain Borhan to talk about integrating corporate

governance and corporate responsibility into SMEs.