SME Corp should come under us, says Entrepreneur Development Ministry

Ministry says this will ensure entrepreneurial policies will be more holistic and comprehensive.

PETALING JAYA: The Entrepreneur Development Ministry said SME Corp, a central coordinating agency for small and medium enterprises (SME), should come under its purview as strengthening SMEs was the ministry’s main objective.

SME Corp is currently under the International Trade and Industry Ministry (Miti).

Elaborating on its main objective, the Entrepreneur Development Ministry (MED) in a statement said its task was to develop policies for entrepreneurial development which were inclusive and encouraged greater competitiveness.

“The implementation of entrepreneurial policies will be more holistic and comprehensive when SME Corp is placed under MED.

“It will further strengthen efforts to increase SME involvement in the value chain through the streamlining of funds for SMEs and centralised activities to promote a culture of entrepreneurship.”

The ministry said it would be focusing more on developing the SME industry by ensuring an ecosystem and facilities through agencies under the MED.

It added that the establishment of MED was especially relevant as the performance of SME players was still weak.

“Further, without an agency or ministry with a specific role in entrepreneurship and SMEs, all this while, many entrepreneurial programmes carried out by different ministries and governments have overlapped one another.”

It was previously reported that Entrepreneur Development Deputy Minister Mohd Hatta Ramli said the ministry was in talks with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad to take over relevant government agencies and bodies including Mara, SME Corp, and Tekun Nasional, among others.

Recently, Malay Mail reported that SME Association of Malaysia had urged the government to retain SME Corp under Miti instead of moving it to MED as the existing setup had enabled seamless coordination with the international trade community. -FMT