Johor has allocated more than RM10.5mil over the past four years to support the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the state.
State youth, sports, entrepreneur development and cooperatives committee chairman Mohd Hairi Mad Shah said the assistance was channelled through Perbadanan Usahawan Johor Bhd (PUJB) to help entrepreneurs expand their businesses.
“Of the total, RM3.5mil was allocated under the Makmur Johor SME Grant in 2022, while another RM3.5mil was disbursed for the Bangsa Johor Entrepreneur Grant in 2023.
“In 2024, RM2mil was allocated for the Johor Advanced Entrepreneur Grant, and this year, the allocation increased to RM1.7mil under the Johor Advanced Entrepreneur Assistance,” he said during the state assembly sitting at Bangunan Sultan Ismail in Kota Iskandar.
He was responding to a question from Ee Chin Li, who asked about the number of SMEs that had received state government assistance since 2023 and how many remained operational after two years.
Hairi said 1,813 entrepreneurs, or 98.75% of recipients, were still actively operating after two years, while 23 entrepreneurs (1.25%) were no longer active and required further intervention.
In addition to assistance provided through PUJB, the state government also extended support to SMEs in the agricultural sector via the Johor Agriculture Department, he said.
He also said that between 2023 and 2025, 557 SMEs in the agricultural sector received assistance amounting to RM10.58mil.
“Monitoring and evaluation conducted by the Agriculture Department found that 88% of agricultural SMEs that received aid remained active after two years,” said Hairi.
The state legislative assembly has been dissolved on June 1.
This paves the way for Johor’s 16th state election.
