Nine Malaysian companies in the oil and gas industry who are participants of SME Bank's Business Export Programme (BEP) and Vendor Capacity & Capability Development Programme (PPKV) took part in the Export Acceleration Mission (EAM) to Abu Dhabi in conjunction with Abu Dhabi International Petroleum Exhibition and Conference (ADIPEC) 2022 held from 30 October to 4 November 2022.

Group President/Chief Executive Officer SME Bank, Datuk Wira (Dr.) Aria Putera Ismail said, “As our economic fundamentals improve, there is an urgent need for our SMEs to expand and make their presence felt globally. BEP and PPKV are the best platforms for them to grab the opportunity and expand their market reach. Looking at the significant impact on the export performance of the SMEs, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KUSKOP) has channelled funds worth RM9.5 million for the implementation of BEP and RM5.48 million for the implementation of PPKV respectively.”

Datuk Dr. Mohammad Hardee Ibrahim, the Group Chief Corporate Strategy Officer of SME Bank who led the mission to Abu Dhabi commented, “As for BEP, the goal is to nurture and develop more Bumiputera exporters between 2020-2025. SME Bank is targeting 47 companies to enter new markets or expand their existing markets and record additional export sales. While for PPKV, the goal is to increase the involvement of vendor companies in the domestic market and penetrate the international markets through accreditation and certification as well as ensuring that vendor companies are more competitive and resilient, driven by the use of technology.”

Datuk Wira Aria added, “We are confident that these goals can be achieved by looking at the total export revenue recorded by 25 BEP companies in 2021. Before joining BEP, these companies collectively recorded RM29.53 million in total export revenue and after joining BEP, they recorded a total of RM37.36 million in export revenue, showing a significant growth of 27%. Apart from this, SME Bank has approved the financing for eight BEP companies worth RM86.15 million which the financing is used to expand and develop their business operations.”

PPKV is a programme for capacity and capability building for vendor companies that focus on market needs as well as optimise company productivity. As at October 2022, 26 applications has been approved with grants worth more than RM2 million for both capacity building and the purchase of machinery or system upgrade.

These programmes support the Shared Prosperity Vision 2030 under the initiative to diversify the country's exports and reduce dependency on oil and gas exports. In addition, they are also expected to deliver Thrust 6 of the National Entrepreneurship Policy (DKN) 2030 which is,  internationalising high-performing Bumiputera enterprises to penetrate the export market.

The Export Acceleration Mission (EAM) to Abu Dhabi is a collaboration between SME Bank, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KUSKOP) and the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp (MATRADE).