{"id":2132,"date":"2006-08-08T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-08-08T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/wordpress\/2006\/08\/08\/key-decisions-of-the-fifth-national-smedc-meeting\/"},"modified":"2006-08-08T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-08-08T00:00:00","slug":"key-decisions-of-the-fifth-national-smedc-meeting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rakansarawak.com\/v3\/2006\/08\/08\/key-decisions-of-the-fifth-national-smedc-meeting\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Decisions of the Fifth National SMEDC Meeting"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The National Small and Medium Enterprise Development Council \nconvened its fifth meeting today and endorsed a number of key \ninitiatives to further strengthen the enabling infrastructure to \nsupport the development of SMEs. <\/font><\/p>\n
Chaired by the Prime Minister, the Council comprises of Ministers \nand Heads of 18 key Ministries and Agencies involved in SME development \nand serves as the highest policy making body to chart the direction and \nstrategies for SME development.<\/font><\/p>\n
A Comprehensive Microfinance Institutional Framework <\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n
The Council has approved the comprehensive microfinance \ninstitutional framework to promote the development of a sustainable \nmicrofinance industry in Malaysia. <\/font><\/p>\n
The development of a sustainable and commercially-driven \nmicrofinance industry is important to ensure that micro enterprises \nhave adequate and continuous access to financing. The comprehensive \nmicrofinance institutional framework is important as currently, 80% of \nSMEs are micro enterprises.<\/font><\/p>\n
The Council approved the transformation of Bank Simpanan Nasional \ninto a specialised microfinance institution. Bank Simpanan Nasional \nwill be introducing a loan package for micro enterprises, with a \nmaximum loan amount of RM50,000 for up to 5 years. The loan will be \nprovided to micro enterprises with viable business activities, at \ncommercial rates with repayment incentives given to good borrowers. <\/font><\/p>\n
Credit cooperatives, are another important provider of microfinance \nidentified and initiatives will be adopted to strengthen the \ncooperative movement, including through the establishment of \nSuruhanjaya Koperasi Malaysia. <\/font><\/p>\n
Other institutions that will be offering microfinance are Bank \nKerjasama Rakyat Malaysia Berhad and Bank Pertanian Malaysia. In \nparticular, Bank Pertanian Malaysia will provide microfinance for \nagriculture and agro-based businesses.<\/font><\/p>\n
Strategies will be undertaken to promote the participation of \nbanking institutions and specialised financial institutions in the \nmicrofinance industry. In this regard, in addition to the flexibility \naccorded to establish up to four new branches, consideration will be \ngiven to locally-incorporated foreign banks to have greater presence in \nthe non-urban areas to conduct microfinance activities. In liberalising \nthe banking system, emphasis would be towards attracting players who \nare recognised as specialist in a specific segment, including \nmicrofinance.<\/font><\/p>\n
Bank Negara Malaysia will facilitate the development of a \n"Graduation Programme" to enable micro enterprises to obtain the right \namount and type of financing to meet their needs as their business \ngrow. Through this structured programme, micro enterprises that require \nlarger funds to finance its business growth will be assisted in \nobtaining such financing from the providers of microfinance as well as \nfrom the SME Bank and commercial banks.<\/font><\/p>\n
The development of a sustainable and commercially-driven \nmicrofinance industry will complement the existing Government-sponsored \nmicrofinance programmes undertaken by institutions such as Amanah \nIkhtiar Malaysia and TEKUN.<\/font><\/p>\n
Formation of SME Marketing Committee to Drive Global Marketing of SME Products<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n
The Council approved a set of proposals to enhance the marketing \ninfrastructure to support greater global market penetration of SME \nproducts and services through coordinated Government assistance \nprogrammes in the area of marketing. To achieve this, a two-pronged \napproach will be undertaken, namely:<\/font><\/p>\n
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the formation of an SME Marketing Committee, an \ninter-Ministry committee to be chaired by the Ministry of International \nTrade and Industry, in collaboration with the respective Ministries and \nAgencies to develop a comprehensive marketing strategy and \nimplementation approach to effectively and efficiently market our SMEs' \nproducts and services overseas; and<\/p>\n
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MATRADE to coordinate the implementation of international marketing programmes and activities. <\/font><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
This approach will enhance the synchronisation of Government \ninitiatives in planning and implementing overseas marketing strategies \nwhile optimising the utilisation of resources and expertise. It will \nfacilitate the development of export-ready SMEs and assisting them to \nmarket their products internationally more effectively and efficiently. \n<\/font><\/p>\n
The move to enhance the marketing support programmes is timely as \nSMEs have indicated that marketing is an area where they seek support \nfrom the Government. With a more effective mechanism in place, the \nGovernment hopes that the SMEs' contribution to total exports would \nincrease, from the current estimate of about 16.6% of total exports.<\/font><\/p>\n
Launch of Inaugural SME Annual Report 2005<\/strong><\/font><\/p>\n
The SME Annual Report is an important initiative adopted by the \nCouncil to enhance the dissemination of information on SMEs in \nMalaysia. The SME Annual Report 2005 launched today, provides a review \non the status and performance of SMEs, as well as the achievements of \nmajor programmes undertaken by the Government for the year in promoting \nthe development of SMEs. <\/font><\/p>\n