Small-medium firms need to think big

Malaysian small-and-medium enterprises (SMEs) are by-and-large, an inward-looking bunch, as they largely cater to the domestic market, or they are part of the supply chain of much larger businesses who have dealings with overseas markets. Very few of them are exporters.

So, when the government announced measures during a special parliamentary session recently to help SMEs who are exporters cope with the tariffs unleashed by US president Donald Trump, there were those who question the absence of support for larger exporting firms.