A nationwide Census on Establishment and Enterprises was conducted
in 2005 on business enterprises in the agriculture, manufacturing and
services sectors. A preliminary assessment based on the 523,132
business establishments that responded to the Census indicated that
99.2% or 518,996 of the business establishments are SMEs, of which
411,849 are micro enterprises.
- Most of the SMEs (86.5% or 449,004) are in the services sector,
mainly engaged in the retail, restaurant, wholesale, transportation and
communication, and professional services businesses. - 37,866 or 7.3% SMEs are in the manufacturing sector, mainly in the
textile and apparel, metal and mineral products, and food and beverages
industries. - 32,126 or 6.2% of SMEs are involved in the agriculture sector,
mostly in food crops, market produce and horticulture, and livestock.
The Census results confirmed that SMEs are a major source of
employment, providing jobs for over 3 million workers or 65.1% of total
employment in these business establishments.
- 2.2 million workers were employed by SMEs in the services sector,
while 740,000 and 131,000 workers were employed in the manufacturing
and agriculture sectors respectively.
In terms of contribution to the economy, SMEs generated RM154
billion or 47.3% of value added and RM405 billion or 43.5% of output in
2003. The Census also showed that 4,257 SMEs exported their goods and
services totaling RM38 billion in 2003. Productivity levels of SMEs are
found to be significantly lower than large enterprises, recording
value-added per establishment of RM0.3 million compared with RM41
million for large enterprises.
Only 2,747 businesses invested in R&D, of which 2,355 are SMEs.
SMEs invested RM2 billion in R&D out of the RM4.3 billion spent in
total by establishments in the Census. Less than 10% of SMEs engaged in
marketing and promotion activities.
The Census also revealed that 84% of the SMEs relied on their own or
internally generated funds and funds sourced from friends and family
members, while 16% sourced their funding from financial institutions.
In contrast, 50% of large enterprises relied on the financial
institutions. Of the 523,132 establishments, 54,011 SMEs indicated
having difficulty obtaining financing from the financial institutions,
mainly due to lack of collateral.
Source :
National SME Development Council
