As the World Union of Small and Medium Enterprises (WUSME) Representative in Malaysia, I am intrigued to learn that the Prime Minister & Finance Minister, Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in delivering Belanjawan MADANI 2026 at the Parliament on 10 October, 2025 allocated funds to support a diverse range of Malaysian brands, services & products. Evidently, Malaysian SME growth is strong, with a 5.8% GDP contribution growth in 2024 to RM652.4 billion to GDP growth. The government and financial institutions are working to improve access to financing for SMEs through various programs & funds. (www.wusme.org; https://www.smecorp.gov.my)
Malaysia produces a wide range of products, including electrical & electronic goods, which are a major export sector, as well as palm oil, rubber products, petroleum and natural gas, and chemicals. Additionally, Malaysia is a significant source of manufactured goods like automotive parts, machinery & plastics and a wide variety of of food and beverage products, traditional products, pewter crafts, batik, songket textiles, consumer goods like cosmetics & toiletries. (https://www.matrade.gov.my)
In this context, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living (MDTCL) promotes the development of a competitive & sustainable domestic economy, specifically in the distributive trade sector and protecting consumer rights. It also plays a role in controlling essential goods prices, monitoring fair trade practices or anti-competitive and regulating strategic sectors like direct selling industries and intellectual property rights. (https://www.kpdn.gov.my)
I am delighted that the government is implementing initiatives to boost SME development, such as encouraging digital adoption and international market participation. However, many SMES, particularly those with a lower share sales & exports, are concerned about rising costs from factors like inflation and new domestic policies. While government initiatives are in place, smaller firms still face challenges in investing in growth initiatives like digitalization & AI.
Zulkifly Baharom (hajizul50@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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