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Saturday December 17, 2005

RM3.8bil allocated for SMEs

BY MAZWIN NIK ANIS

PUTRAJAYA: The Government will more than double its assistance to small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) next year, with allocations amounting to RM3.8bil.

Announcing this yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said a blueprint for such enterprises had been designed to accelerate the development of this sector next year.

The blueprint shows the Government’s objectives, targets, strategic focus as well as plans and programmes for SMEs.

The blueprint will also see the Government allocating RM3.79bil to implement 245 programmes.

Abdullah said the programmes were aimed at strengthening and enabling infrastructure to support SME development, building capacity and capability of SMEs as well as enhancing further the sector’s access to financing.

He said priority would be given to develop SMEs involved in car component manufacturing, agriculture and the food industry, given the tremendous potential these three sectors have.

“We want to ensure SMEs continue to provide employment and help play an important role in generating the economy,” he said after chairing the fourth National SME Development Council meeting at his office.

Among measures stated in the blueprint are:

· A TOTAL of 170 key capacity building programmes to be implemented in entrepreneurship development, training and human resources, marketing and promotions as well as to assist SMEs adopt higher levels of technology and upgrade their products;

· PROGRAMMES to inculcate entrepreneurship in schools and institutes of higher education and the development of an SME training accreditation system and module on finance and business management;

· ESTABLISHING and enhancing the infrastructure to support SME development, including incentives to encourage upgrading of business premises and establishing a Franchise Mediation Centre and incubation centres; and

· PROVIDING greater access to financing for SMEs with 34 key programmes which will include a RM300mil venture capital fund for agriculture, another RM300mil for the Fund for Food, pre-seed funding for the ICT sector and the transformation of the Credit Guarantee Corporation.

The Government had wanted to help strengthen and develop the SME sector as it was regarded the “nursery” for bigger and more powerful industries, Abdullah said, adding that from his observation, big and successful companies started off as SMEs.

“This is because the operators have genuine interest to continue to see their company grow; and with experience, they know how to handle situations and business matters better,” he added.

He also said that a census was carried out for the first time on 349,617 companies and businesses to determine the needs of the SMEs, their contribution towards the economy and their future directions.

The Baseline Census of Establishments and Enterprises 2005 of the agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors showed that SMEs accounted for 99% of total business establishments and contributed to 38% of total output of these establishments.

SMEs accounted for 55% of the workforce of business establishments in the agriculture, manufacturing and services sectors.

Abdullah said the census also indicated that most SMEs were still very small, 81% being micro-enterprises with less than five full-time workers.

Related Stories:
Bank Negara launches portal to help SMEs

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