THE Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (SAMENTA) has expressed concern that the government may be lulled into believing that the country’s SMEs are doing well because of the strong economic rebound, moderation of inflation and the strengthening of the ringgit.
SAMENTA national president Datuk William Ng said in a statement on Monday (Oct 14) that contrary to that belief, many SMEs are badly impacted by the additional cost of doing business and are mulling steep increase in selling price.
He said the margin compression challenge is further exacerbated by increased compliance cost posed by the upcoming e-invoicing mandate and ESG standards adherence and reporting.
“Despite these, various government agencies and local authorities are increasing their fees to SMEs by between 15 to 250%. Many SMEs are desperate for help, but do not know where or how to find those help,” he lamented.
SAMENTA also noted that in their various surveys and engagements with SMEs since early this year, the consensus is that despite the strong economic headlines, most SMEs continue to face margin compression and are being displaced by a combination of digital disruption, labour shortage and increasing compliance costs.
“We are hopeful that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is aware of these issues and will refrain from introducing any new and incremental taxes that may further diminish the competitiveness of our SMEs,” Ng said.
“Instead, the focus should be on helping our SMEs scale, manage their costs, and tap into the various opportunities presented by the energy transition, climate change, aging population, artificial intelligence and the shifting global economic order.”
The association went on to question the reason it was blocked from engagement with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim by the Finance Ministry (MOF) at a crucial engagement with industry associations in July.
“While it is true that our input as the oldest and largest association for SMEs are considered by various ministries as part of the Budget 2025 process, we were specifically denied participation by the MOF at a crucial engagement with industry associations in July,” he said.
“We were instead asked to drop ‘any suggestions or proposals’ to the Ministry’s website. We had wanted to appeal to the prime minister directly to ensure that the challenges of SMEs are addressed in Budget 2025.
“This includes ensuring the recent economic rally triggers down to SMEs at the grassroot level.”
SAMENTA stressed that they remain committed to supporting the prime minister and his government’s economy policies and expressed hope that the SMEs’ grouses will be addressed.
“If we have been vocal to the point of being blocked from a direct engagement, it is only because we share in the vision of the prime minister and would want him to succeed,” Ng added. – Oct 14, 2024
