PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government will provide RM60 million in the second chance financing funds for the small and medium enterprise (SMEs) and innovative entrepreneurs in the manufacturing and service sectors.
He said that the fund is allocated for the entrepreneurs to revive and continue their contribution for the nation’s economy as part of the eight industrial segments to drive the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 (NIMP 2030).
“Adoption of technology and digitisation, as well as increased research and development (R&D) activities and creativity will be encouraged, so that SMEs can increase productivity and remain competitive.
“SMEs will also be encouraged to comply with the Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) requirements to ensure participation in a sustainable global supply chain,” he said at the Dewan Rakyat when tabling the Mid-Term Review (MTR) for the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) today.
Anwar, during the tabling, asserted that the government is aware of the businesses that have yet to recover due to the Covid-19 pandemic and noticed 7.25 million of the SME workers were affected due to the pandemic.
On the other hand, he also mentioned that the aerospace industry will be able to escalate Malaysia as a high-tech country.
He further added that development of the aerospace industry will be focusing on the development of an integrated aerospace cluster that is capable of attracting quality investment.
“This effort is expected to increase the growth of the industry to reach the revenue target of RM30 billion in 2025, and most importantly, be able to offer skilled jobs with high wages to the people,” he said.
In order to observe the success of the industry, Anwar asserted that more initiatives will be implemented to develop technologies and ecosystems for sustainable aviation fuel production.
The aerospace industry was among the industries included in NIMP 2030, the framework that aimed to attract high value investment in the country.
The framework also targeted 3.3 million new job opportunities for the people with an intermediate salary as high as RM4,510 by the end of its enforcement.
Moreover, Anwar highlighted that the government targeted Malaysia to be the leader in the international halal market with halal export value worth RM63.1 billion in 2025.
Additionally, the creative industry is also supported as the high impact strategic industry. Steps will be taken, including by strengthening governance, developing centralised big data analytics, as well as developing local creative talent to boost the creative industry.
Apart from that, the government also focused on driving the industries such as tourism, transport infrastructure development and logistics, global service and global Islamic financial centre.
Source: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2023/09/11/sme-financing-fund/