Image credit: The Star
The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (Medac) has allocated RM5.15 billion that would be utilised under its new strategic plan to improve and enhance the small and medium enterprise (SME) sector.
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the budget would cover various programmes including assistance, training and financing that would be carried out by agencies under the ministry.
“This strategic plan has outlined the implementation of 86 programmes which will benefit entrepreneurs and ‘would-be’ entrepreneurs at various levels and backgrounds.
“It encompasses financing and moratorium programmes, capacity building and training, digitalisation and technology adaptation, as well as market access,” he said in a press conference at a ceremony that marks Medac’s achievement with a year under the Perikatan Nasional government in Putrajaya yesterday.
Wan Junaidi said the government’s programmes and assistance are mostly targeted towards those at the grass-root level, the B40 (bottom 40%) income group and those who are severely impacted by Covid-19.
“I believe that economic reforms must be rakyat-centric and should be grass-root driven. By improving the socio-economic of the B40s, eventually, will help stimulate domestic spending and help aid the economy,” he said.
He added that Medac is envisioned “to groom 100 millionaires a year” who would rise from SMEs.
The ministry is also expected to create a conducive ecosystem that would be a good platform for the products and services, while giving the SMEs assistance and guidance provided by relevant agencies.
Wan Junaidi added that the ministry has somehow strived in the past one year, despite having to operate in challenging conditions due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
He said among the top-performing agencies are the National Entrepreneurship Institute (INSKEN), SME Corp Malaysia, Tekun Nasional, Bank Kerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Bhd (Bank Rakyat) and SME Bank Malaysia Bhd.
On the financing side, SME Corp reported more than 90% growth in its financing approval in 2020 to RM87.6 million from RM46.1 million in 2019 involving 9,247 SMEs from 1,326 in 2019.
Tekun Nasional reported a 55% growth in its financing to RM655.41 million from RM423.6 million in 2019 involving 33,365 recipients from 20,675 in 2019.
Meanwhile, Bank Rakyat recorded 16.6% growth in its corporate, cooperatives and SME loans to RM5.59 billion involving 1,169 recipients, while its microfinancing for the year under review grew 33.6% to RM107 million, benefitting 7,744 recipients.
Similarly, SME Bank too reported 33.5% growth in its financing approval to RM2.79 billion involving 2,030 recipients — close to four times growth in the number of recipients of 529 in 2019.
INSKEN, the ministry’s training unit, managed to see more than four times increase in the number of participants for its training programmes to 10,423 from 2,461 in 2019, while participation for its coaching programmes increased by more than 200% to 1,375 from 582 previously.
Source: https://themalaysianreserve.com/2021/03/16/smes-get-rm5b-under-medacs-new-plan/