KOTA KINABALU: Faculty of Business, Economics, and Accountancy (FPEP) of Universiti Malaysia Sabah and the Asian Academy of Applied Business (AAAB) have successfully organized the 8th International Conference of the Asian Academy of Applied Business (AAAB 2017) in Kota Kinabalu on December 20 to 21, 2017. The theme of the conference was ‘Sustaining the performance of business in a dynamic economic environment.’
The conference involved eighty six participations that included paper presenters and participants. The presenters came from Sabah, Sarawak, Peninsula Malaysia, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. The keynote address was given by Datuk Dr. Mohd Yaakob Haji Johari, the Chief Executive of Sabah Economic Development and Investment Authority (SEDIA). During the keynote address, the speaker highlighted the latest development of Sabah’s economy, Sabah Development Corridor (SDC), challenges as well as opportunities in the current business environment.
Following the keynote address, a forum on ‘Challenges and Opportunities in the Current Business Landscape’ was moderated by a reputable professor from the Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy, Universiti Malaysia Sabah, Prof Dr Syed Azizi Wafa who is also the President of Asian Academy of Applied Business. Three renowned panelists were invited; Datuk Mohd Basri Abd Gafar, the President of Federation of Sabah Industries (FSI), Miss Rita Elisha Mering, the Director of Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Sabah Regional Office) and Dr. Rafiq Idris, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Business, Economics and Accountancy, UMS.
Among the challenges highlighted by the panelists include challenges related to the ASEAN Economic Community, Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans Pacific Partnership, the effects due to the signing of other trade agreements, change in policy such as the use of steel hull, Industrial Revolution 4.0 and changes in global situation among others. Despite all the challenges, the panelists agreed that there are always opportunities on which businesses can benefit. One of the important traits shared by the panelists that businesses must have is that they must be willing to adapt to changes.
There were four concurrent sessions being held with twelve different separate sessions. Each session was conducted based on research theme and it covered areas such as Accounting, Economics, Finance, Marketing, Management, Entrepreneurship, Tourism and Hospitality. The conference editor as well as the Chief Editor of Journal AAAB, Dr Ramraini Ali Hassan stated that the quality of the papers submitted to the conference this year has significantly improved in quality and adhering to the conference theme.
AAAB Conference has been conducted for eight times so far in several countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, Cambodia and China. The next AAAB conference is scheduled to be held in 2019. AAAB Conference is indeed an important platform for academicians, businesses and other stakeholders to present and discuss current business challenges and propose solutions. According to Prof Dr Syed Azizi Wafa, AAAB has been very consistent since its establishment on the effort to encourage research and development as well as academic collaboration in the ASEAN region. According to Dr Rafiq Idris, such program is important to gather experts from the university as well as the industry from different parts of the world to exchange ideas.-pr/BNN
