• SME News
Government Considers New Allocation For SME Bank's Factory Scheme
SHAH ALAM, March 9 (Bernama) -- The government is considering an application from SME Bank for new allocation under the 10th Malaysia Plan to implement and develop its factory scheme.
Deputy International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir said the ministry through SME Bank was giving priority to entrepreneurship programmes, particularly those involving small and medium scale Bumiputera entrepreneurs, in the country's development.
"The government is aware of programmes which really provide benefits for people in the entrepreneurship field such as the SME Bank factory scheme which should be considered for allocation under the 10th Malaysia Plan, which is expected to be debated in Parliament in June," he said.
"To date, the government has allocated RM334.76 million for the scheme nationwide. The allocation started from the Fourth Malaysia Plan and was included in each plan up to the Ninth Malaysia Plan which is being implemented," he told reporters after closing a seminar for the factory scheme participants here Tuesday.
He was unable to disclose the amount of allocation requested by SME Bank as the government was still in the process of discussing the 10th Malaysia Plan. Earlier in his speech, Mukhriz said the government has never neglected small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which formed 99 per cent of the country's registered businesses.
"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is chairing the 10th National SME Development Council meeting to approve proposals for the SME Master Plan from 2011 to 2020 to upgrade the role of SMEs in the New Economic Model," he said.
He also said that the contribution of SMEs to the gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to increase to 37 per cent this year from 32 per cent achieved last year. In another development, Mukhriz said the ministry would monitor China-made products coming into the country to ensure that their quality meet the specifications laid down by the Standard and Industrial Research Institute of Malaysia or Sirim Bhd.
He advised local entrepreneurs to improve the quality of their products so that they could compete with the major manufacturers, particularly those from China. SME Bank chairman Datuk Gumuri Hussain said a study showed that the profit achieved by the factory scheme participants rose 88.1 per cent compared to the rise in work productivity at 47.6 per cent and increase in paid-up capital at 21.4 per cent. -- BERNAMA
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