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SMEs Seek To Emerge As Economic Powerhouse With New Initiatives
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 (Bernama) -- New initiativesundertaken by the Small and Medium Industry (SMI) Association will help smalland medium enterprises (SMEs) to realise their vision of becoming an economicpowerhouse.
The initiatives include participating in the SMI 1-StopSolution 2010 Exhibition and sending a mission to the 6th APEC SME TechnologyConference and Fair in Fuzhou and the World Expo in Shanghai, both in China.
SMI Association president Chua Tiam Wee said continuousefforts were critical to further strengthen the SME sector which facedchallenges such as access to financing and markets, technological competitionand human resource shortage.
"In this respect, I am pleased that our recentproposal of topping up the Working Capital Guarantee Scheme under the 10thMalaysia Plan (10MP) has resulted in the scheme being topped up by another RM3billion," Chua said.
"This shows that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib TunRazak listens to the ground on the needs of the SMEs and we trust thegovernment's sincerity in developing the SME sector," he said during thelaunch of the SME Recognition Award 2010 here Wednesday.
The event was officiated by Deputy Finance Minister DatukDonald Lim Siang Chai.
Chua said the association had submitted 16 proposals inthe recent budget dialogue with the Finance Ministry to accelerate privateinvestments.
These included soft loan proposals, revamp of SME Bank, redefinitionof SMEs, and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), he said.
On the award ceremony, Lim said that there will beroadshows in 15 cities and towns prior to the award's closing date on August31, 2010.
"Through these roadshows, we will take theopportunity to disseminate information on the transformation of the economyunder the New Economic Model as well as the 10MP and to obtain feedback fromlocal SMEs which can help in formulation of appropriate governmentpolicies," he said.
"The government will consider increasing thefinancial resources of the SME Bank and the Agro Bank to enable them to provideeffective services to entrepreneurs," he said.
"The government will also continuously working toformulate new strategies to improve the performances of this sector, whilesetting the ground rules and providing a conducive environment," he added.-- BERNAMA
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