By Siti Noor Afera Abu and Zufazlin Baharuddin

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 -- Budget 2021’s realistic measures for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will help to boost sustainability and transformation of traditional businesses towards digitalisation.

University Malaya’s Faculty of Economics and Administration senior lecturer Dr Mohammad Tawfik Yaakub said the measures would help ensure the SME sector’s growth in a new dimension. 

“If the SMEs are not empowered in this new dimension, they will have to face business slowdown,” he said to Bernama.

As such, the government is focusing on the sector to restore its growth momentum through fund injections, continuous digitalisation efforts, implementation of new initiatives to drive production, as well as the reintroduction of the Buy Malaysian Products campaign.

These measures would not only help the SMEs in the short term, but also help to boost their sustainability against a challenging economic background due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw many having to shutter their respective businesses, he said.

“If the sector is not assisted through the injection of additional funds under Budget 2021, it will create a chain reaction of issues, including income and job losses which is currently on the rise in the country,” Mohammad Tawfik said. 

In presenting the Budget 2021 yesterday, Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz announced that the government will allocate RM4.6 billion to boost and empower Bumiputera entrepreneurs through financing assistance and capacity building programme -- among other measures to help the SMEs.

The government will also introduce the RM2 billion Targeted Assistance and Rehabilitation facility under Bank Negara Malaysia to further assist affected SMEs.

Meanwhile, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) deputy director-general (Entrepreneurship) Datuk Zulfikri Osman said Budget 2021 also empowers women entrepreneurs, especially through the allocation of RM95 million for special micro credit financing through TEKUN, MARA and Agrobank.

“It is very appropriate to provide targeted assistance for vulnerable groups, aside from helping to ensure the continuity of their daily operations," he said.

Zulkfikri said that the government’s allocation of more than RM150 million to Mara to provide several SME financing schemes will be able to be utilised as short-term injections to help the sector weather through the very challenging pandemic situation.

"I hope that there will be more strategies and follow-up initiatives, especially in restructuring the country's economy in line with the new norms and conditions resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic," he added.

-- BERNAMA