Special Govt Contracts for Companies Producing Highly Innovative, Global Products

PEKAN, April 23 (Bernama) -- Companies and entrepreneurs successful in producing highly innovative products capable of entering the global market will be awarded with special contracts by the government to further grow their business.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the move was to appreciate entrepreneurs and companies that have shown innovativeness and creativity in identifying new products especially those accepted in the global market.

The special contract will be given for a specific period of years to expand the business and product.

"However, the companies and entrepreneurs will have to be verified by SME Corporation (SME Corp) or the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) before they qualify to be considered for the special contract," Najib said in his speech when officiating the Pahang Entrepreneur Carnival here today.

Also present at the event was Menteri Besar Pahang Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob and International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.

Najib said Malaysia could no longer afford to depend on natural resources alone and would have to look at innovations to drive its economic growth.

In line with this, entrepreneurs particularly from the small and medium sized industries should shift their mindset towards competing and progressing in their business.

Looking at the globalisation and liberalised era now, entrepreneurs can no longer stay in an economic environment like that of the 60s to 80s where they were protected from competition, he said.

Najib said they should also not continue to stay in their comfort zone and avoid making changes to advance further.

"For example, the holders of Approved Permit (AP) for import continue to depend on the AP and are not using the revenue from the business to venture into other areas, thereby we will not see any transformation in the mindset.

"Therefore, do not point fingers at the government, and say why it has not increased the quota, why the government has not done this, or that... without a transformation in the mindset."

He said the government has come out with various initiatives to help the operators of the small and medium enterprises including 79 types of loans and grants amounting to RM8.8 billion carried out by various agencies.

The prime minister said that to make it easier to access these funds, the funds were being now tightened to 33 types and coordinated by SME Corp.

The government has also allocated RM350 million to SME Corp with RM200 million of it for easy SME financing schemes and RM100 million for upgrading and increasing the capacities of SMEs and the remaining for branding and promotional programmes.

Apart from that, he said there were six SME funds managed by Bank Negara Malaysia with funds amounting to RM13.4 billion, benefitting 46,000 SMEs.

Najib said the government had also allocated RM538 million to carry out various SME programmes through the state corporations, Tekun or the venture fund economics group and SME Bank. --BERNAMA

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