PETALING JAYA: The Small and Medium Enterprises Association Malaysia (Samenta) has called on the government to widen its support measures for small businesses, warning that non-exporting small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face rising costs and dwindling domestic demand in the wake of global trade disruptions.
While commending the government’s swift response to the United States’ reciprocal tariffs, including an RM1bil increase in business financing guarantee scheme (SJPP) and RM500mil in soft loans for exporters, Samenta president Datuk William Ng said much of Malaysia’s SME base remains vulnerable.
“We commend Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the government for their swift response to the reciprocal tariffs imposed by the United States. The targeted support measures – particularly the RM1bil increase in SJPP guarantees, RM500mil in soft loans via development financial institutions, and the RM50mil boost to Matrade – are timely and essential in supporting our SME exporters,” Ng said in a statement.
“However, these tariffs and the broader global trade disruptions they represent are not challenges faced only by our exporters,” he explained.
He stressed that over 84% of SMEs in Malaysia do not export and are not in manufacturing, instead operating in domestic-facing sectors such as services, retail, logistics, construction as well as food and beverage. These businesses, he said, would be equally impacted as input costs rise, supply chains tighten, and consumer spending begins to contract.
According to Ng, the real threat to the SMEs lies not in losing access to global markets, but in enduring inflationary pressures without the safety nets available to larger firms.
