Two Malaysian Students To Take Their ESG Innovation Regional

Bukit Damansara, 12 August 2022 – British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Berhad is back with its local round of the BAT Group’s annual ‘Battle of Minds’ business challenge competition.

This competition forms part of BAT Group’s commitment to build A Better Tomorrow^TM, with an aim to encourage bright young talent from all over the globe to showcase their innovative ideas and business skills in the space of Environment, Social & Governance (ESG).

Too Good Duo, comprising of Material Science students Mohammad Fahad Saleem and Nur Liyana Syasya from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia emerged as the winners of the local round. They came up with a proposal on eco-friendly production material and sustainable waste management.

The winning team walked away with a cash prize of RM6,000 and will be representing Malaysia in the Regional round that will be held in September. They will receive coaching and training from the panel of judges as they prepare for the next stage. The winner of the Regional round will go on to represent the Asia Pacific and Middle East region at the Global finals.

In total, 13 teams pitched their business solution to tackle three ESG challenges, namely Environmental (ideas that drive a circular, zero waste economy), Social (how can we support the shift towards workplace digitalisation?) and Governance (what are the best ways to apply Blockchain technology to support good governance?)

In the lead up to Malaysia finale, the panel of judges comprising senior leaders from various departments across the BAT business, shortlisted top 5 teams from the overall entries to progress to the final round held at the BAT Malaysia Head Office.

Contestants were judged based on the impact of the ideas, sustainability and potential of realizing the ideas, presentation quality and team leadership skills. Participants were also given the opportunity to network and connect with senior leaders from the organization during the event.

The competition is divided into three rounds – namely local, regional, and global. The winners of the local rounds will stand a chance to receive monetary recognition as well as employment opportunities, while the champion and runners-up of the Global rounds will walk away with £25,000 (RM135,500) and £50,000 (RM271,000) respectively, to go towards funding their project, and a place on BAT’s start-up accelerator program.

“ESG is a key driver of our transformation journey to build A Better Tomorrow™ and is at the core of our business. It is therefore vital for us to create a platform where we can harness the potential of future talents in this space.”

“BAT Malaysia is proud to offer avenues for young talent to shine as they embark on their career journey. It was truly exciting to see all the bright ideas from these young entrepreneurs, and we hope they continue to bring their difference and make a positive impact through these innovative ideas, improving the communities they are in and delivering a sustainable future,” said Felicia Teh, Director of Human Resources.

BAT has been certified as a Top Employer in various regions around the world.  The recognition reflects its continued commitment to deliver a future-fit workplace and invest in talent and capability acceleration of its 52,000 employees globally.