BUTTERWORTH: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) will soon have access to a one-stop online portal designed to help them find information on financing, training and government assistance programmes.
Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Steven Sim said the portal would also consolidate details on the RM50bil for SMEs under Budget 2026, along with an additional RM10bil to help businesses cope with the impact of the conflict in the Gulf.
He said many small business owners remain unaware of the full range of support available as existing schemes are spread across dozens of ministries and agencies.
“The government has allocated substantial resources for SMEs, including RM50bil under Budget 2026 and an additional RM10bil announced recently.
“These brings the total funding available for the SME sector to RM60bil.
“But these resources are spread across many ministries and agencies, at least 50 to 60 of them,” he said after the a town hall session of the ministry yesterday.
Sim said the upcoming portal would serve as a central access point for information on grants, financing, training and other support services.
“It is currently in the production stage and we expect it to be launched sometime this month,” he said.
Sim added that larger companies typically have dedicated teams to track incentives and programmes, while smaller businesses often struggle to identify the right agencies to approach.
“We understand that one of the main complaints from SMEs, especially small business owners, is that they do not know which agencies to approach,” he said.
Earlier, Sim spent about two hours in a dialogue session organised by the Federation of Malaysian Manufacturing Penang branch.
