SME Corp Malaysia is strengthening bilateral relations related to the development of SMEs with two of its counterparts, namely the SMEs Development Agency of Oman and the Small Enterprise Development Fund of Yemen.
The corporation will be signing MoUs with the two bodies for the purpose, as part of its bigger plan to strengthen Malaysia’s cooperation in SME development with 17 Arab countries.
“Acknowledging the importance of SMEs in our economies, we should continue to foster, strengthen, and deepen bilateral economic, trade and investment linkages, with SMEs taking the centre stage,” said SME Corp CEO Rizal Nainy in a statement.
Through this formalisation of cooperation, SME from the countries involved will benefit from the exchange of information and SME promotion activities which will be lined up in the future.
The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives hosted a networking session with diplomatic representatives from 17 Arab countries to foster integration of Malaysian SMEs into the global value chain.
The inaugural networking session saw the participation of Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Sudan, UAE and Yemen.
During the session, Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar stressed the important role of entrepreneurs and SMEs as the lifeblood of economies around the world.
Rizal noted that international buyers from the Middle East as well as other parts of the world can source products and services of Malaysian SMEs through SME Corp’s MatchME platform.
Introduced in June 2021, the platform connects SMEs with anchor companies such as multinational companies, government linked companies, supermarkets, and large companies locally and internationally. The platform has matched a total of 740 MSMEs as well as 93 MNC and large companies generating RM38 million in potential sales to date.
The platform is part of the SME Corp’s MyAssist MSME initiative which provides an online channel for MSME to seek business advisory and information, guidance, and digital marketing opportunities.
