BERLIN: The Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry plans to bring more Malaysian small-medium enterprises (SMEs) to trade shows abroad to showcase their products and services to a global market.
Its minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said the success of SMEs on the international stage would inspire even more home-grown business to scale new heights.
Speaking to reporters at the SME Future Day event in Berlin today, Ewon said the ministry, via two of its agencies - SME Bank and SME Corp - have brought four Malaysian SMEs as well as two franchise companies to the annual event, which gathers some 5,000 SMEs as well as government and corporate players.
These Malaysian SMEs, he said, had already expanded their operations abroad and wished to spread their reach to the German and European markets.
"Naturally, our goal is to ensure that our products and services by these companies successfully break into the international market.
"We have brought them to Berlin and hope that it can open up a new chapter for these companies.
"They can also serve as an inspiration to other SMes in Malaysia to show that they too can successfully tap into new markets globally," he said.
Ewon cited SME Bank's Business Exports Programme and SME Corp's SMEs Go Global programme as examples of support by the ministry to help these companies go abroad.
He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, in his keynote address at the event, had among others touched on foreign investment into Malaysia, which were largely due to Malaysia's political stability, good governance, excellent infrastructure as well as cordial relations with other nations.
"These significant investments will in turn open the door for SMEs in Malaysia to be involved in the supply chain system for multinational companies who have already invested in the country," he said.
He said while this was their first participation in SME Future Day, the ministry already annually participates in Gulfood expo in Dubai, which is skewed towards the food and beverage industry.
"However, we want to go beyond that which is why here, we have SMEs which focus on manufacturing, IT, engineering, sports apparel, Al Quran publication, all of which hold great potential," he said, adding he has asked for more allocation from the prime minister for the purpose.
The ministry, he said, also aims to establish market linkers outside Malaysia.
"This is something the ministry is working on. I will be tabling this in greater detail to the National Economic Action Council which will convene in April," he said.
He said while the ministry wants greater participation from SMEs abroad, the companies themselves have to ensure they meet market demand.
Some of these companies have already expanded abroad, either by themselves or via programmes under SME bank or SME Corp.
"We want greater participation but there will be criteria. For example in F&B, we want all products we bring overseas to at least have halal certification.
"This is actively being done to ensure that these products meet Malaysian and international standards," he said.
Ewon said the ministry also issued Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) guidelines last month for SMEs.
"This is to ensure that our SMEs comply with market demand such as in Europe, where they want products and services to meet ESG requirements, similar to the United States, Japan and Australia.
"We hope that even more companies will comply with these standards which will make it easier for us to market these companies at international expos such as these in years to come."
