CHIEF Minister Chow Kon Yeow during the MoU signing ceremony between Affin Bank and the Small and Medium Enterprises Association (SAMENTA) stated that the state government has implemented programmes and policies such as The SME Village, Smart Centre and i4. 0 Seed Capital fund for the benefits of SMEs.
“Recently I have unveiled Vision 2030 for Penang where one of its goals is enhancing the economy.
“While the MNCs have dominated the landscape of the manufacturing industry, we should not ignore the significant contributions of SMEs in the economic growth of Penang.
“Supporting and ancillary industries are represented by companies which were once SMEs such as LKT (now Sam), Eng Teknologi, Globetronics, Prodelcon and many others have transformed into Public Limited Company (PLCs). Vitrox and Elsoft also had humble beginnings as SMEs.
“In the non-E&E sector, we have home grown companies such as Asiafile and Chee Wah that are Penang-made and has certainly made their names locally and internationally,” said Chow.
The Chief Minister also expressed his hope of ‘Penang brand’ going places.
“Recently I have shared during the Penang vision 2030, to work towards coming up with more of the Penang brand and take it to great heights, across the global market.
“For instance, I witnessed the signing of MoU between Sim Leisure Group and a Chinese company that is a subsidiary of a Singapore PLC.
“ESCAPE is planning to export its theme park to Linyi, Shandong and this showcases the capabilities of Penang-based SMEs.
“There are other companies which can be cited in relation to this but the purpose is to highlight the growth potential and dynamism of SMEs,” added Chow.
Apart from that, the Chief Minister also affirmed that the role of the state government is to facilitate the SMEs by providing the right infrastructure and support to so that SMEs can thrive and grow.
“SAMENTA has submitted a Memorandum that outlined four major points on how to stimulate and support SME growth and development.
“Stimulating demand via government procurement, provision of affordable space, capacity building and reducing the cost of doing business.
“My team will study the proposals submitted by SAMENTA and make necessary announcements in due course,” Chow added.
Adding on, Chow said that this collaboration will bring about benefits to the SMEs.
“This collaboration will help the SMEs to expand their businesses
“And this is in line with what I have announced during Penang Vision 2030, to see more platforms where government, agencies, private sectors and community can work together to attain a win-win situation.
“Penang’s economy is stable as our SMEs are stable.
“There are some 3,000 SMEs in Penang which support 300 MNCs here.
“So, this stable ecosystem has attracted many foreign investments as well as domestic.
“Some of the SMEs here have developed into MNCs which they call as Large Local Companies (LLC).
“So, we need such a collaboration to develop the business sector,” said Chow.
Story by Tanushalini Moroter
Pix by Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi