Govt To Continue Supporting SMEs In Budget 2018
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 4 (Bernama) -- The government will continue to support the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Budget 2018.
In a statement today, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Abdul Rahman Dahlan, said this was important to ensure that SMEs' contributions to the gross domestic product (GDP) increased to 41 per cent and the share of the country's exports from them to 23 per cent.
Abdul Rahman said SMEs played a major role in Malaysia's economy.
"The SMEs contributed over a third of the RM1.2 trillion in national GDP, hired 5.7 million workers, which were almost half of the total employment in the country, and made up 98.5 per cent of business establishments in Malaysia," he said.
He said based on recent Department of Statistics data, SMEs' contributions to the GDP rose to 36.6 per cent in 2016 from 36.3 per cent in 2015.
The SMEs also recorded a growth of 5.2 per cent, outpacing the 4.2 per cent growth of the country's GDP in 2016, he said.
This proved they were doing well despite slower national economic growth, he said.
"These achievements are made possible by the efforts of the SMEs themselves, including the ecosystem, assistance and initiatives provided by the Ministry of Trade and Industry," he said.
Nonetheless, SMEs' contribution to Malaysia's total export was still low at 4.4 per cent, he said, adding that they should strive for the export markets to ensure their business viability.
-- BERNAMA
