KUALA LUMPUR : 22 October 2016 – SME Bank welcome the 2017 National Budget tabled by YAB Prime Minister particularly in the Bumiputera Empowerment Agenda.

To support the Government’s efforts, SME Bank will implement a specific program with an allocation of RM100 million aimed at increasing opportunities for Bumiputera entrepreneurs to have access to financing in order to expand their businesses and thus, contributing significantly to the national economic growth.

In relation to this, SME Bank will be more aggressive and continue to offer the program on “Skim Anjakan Usahawan” (SAU) which is one of the key initiatives in accelerating the businesses of Bumiputera SME entrepreneurs to a higher level. SAU will assist in achieving the target of 41% SME’s contribution towards our national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by the year 2020.

Declaring 2017 as a Startup and SME Promotion Year is indeed timely as we only have another four years to achieve the targets of the SME Master Plan. Statistically, the SME sector needs to record minimum annual growth of more than 10% and this figure is higher than the current annual GDP growth of between 4%-5% per year.

The introduction of the National Export Promotion Fund, reducing tax for productive SMEs, widening and enhancing the quality of broadband, implementing digital programmes and offering insurance credit facility with coverage value of up to RM1billion to SMEs should directly contribute towards achieving the Master Plan.

What is crucial now is for the SMEs to move aggressively and capitalize on the various opportunities that have been laid in front of them. There is an urgent need for the SMEs to change the mindset and take full advantage of the assistance given by the Government.

SME Bank is determined to fully support the mandate and trust given by the Government to implement the program in supporting the Government’s aspirations in enhancing and strengthening the participation of Bumiputeras in manufacturing and services industries and involvement in domestic and global trade.