Digi business marketing and operations head Steven Soon (second from left) delivering his speech as (from left) Johor South SME Association advisor Teh Kee Sin, RHB Bank Bhd commercial banking head Azlina Safian and PKT Logistics Group Sdn Bhd chief operating officer P’ng Tean Hau look on duri...
One for the album: (From left) Teh, Soon, Azlina and P’ng posing for photograph after their panel discussion session at the SOBA LAB programme at Trove Hotel in Johor Baru.JOHOR BARU: Digitalisation is the way forward for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and they have to start planning now,...
Unofficial figures show that some 300,000 Malaysians commute daily from Johor to Singapore to work. — FilepicJOHOR BARU: The state government is looking at the positive angle when it comes to the high number of Malaysians, including Johoreans, working in Singapore.Johor education, human resour...
An SME expo showcasing the productsKUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's small business sector experienced positive business conditions in 2018 and confidence in business and economic growth is at its highest point since 2012, according to new survey data released today by CPA Australia. The findings from CPA A...
KUALA LUMPUR: Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should capitalise on the RM517mil funding made available by Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd’s (MIDF) and Malaysian Technology Development Corp (MTDC) under the Soft Loan Scheme for Automation and Modernisation (SLSAM).MIDF group ma...
PETALING JAYA: Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng is tabling Budget 2019 in Parliament, the first federal budget by the Pakatan Harapan government.The tabling of the Supply Bill (Budget) 2019 will commence before Dewan Rakyat Speaker Datuk Mohamad Ariff Md Yusof, and will be debated by the Members of Par...
2014 A Challenging Year For SMEs, Says SMI Association
KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 19 (Bernama) -- This is going to be a very challenging year for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) due to rising costs, said SMI Association of Malaysia National President Teh Kee Sin.
Teh said the Budget 2014 had underscored the Prime Minister's commitment in tackling the fiscal deficit and federal debt with the introduction of the new regime of subsidy rationalisation.
"Some of the measures indicated in the Budget had affected the cost of running a business, and also changed the way we operate the business in the years ahead, adding to the worries for SMEs," he said.
He said the industry is now paying an additional 11 per cent in petrol costs, a 10 per cent increase in the sugar price, a 15 per cent electricity tariff hike as well as higher labour costs with the minimum wage policy taking full effect on Jan 1 this year.
Speaking at the SMI Association Chinese New Year dinner celebrations here today, Teh said although the toll hike did not take place it still caused a dilution to the country's coffers by RM400 million.
He added the goods and services tax also caused some panic among SMEs as they are still unfamiliar with the system, with some businesses already taking advantage to increase prices, citing the GST as the reason.
Moving forward, Teh said small enterprises would need to be vigilant as business has become more competitive.
Meanwhile, Datuk Low Seng Kuan, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, in his speech said measures taken by the government especially in subsidy rationalisation were not populist but were necessary actions to make the country's economy robust.
He said the government had already managed to reduce the deficit to four per cent this year and hopefully will reduce it further to three per cent by next year and maybe to zero in the coming years.
Low said under the second Government Transformation Programme, the government has also started implementing measures to improve governance and integrity and to eradicate corruption.
"The initiatives involve taking appropriate measures to ensure that the transformation is not superficial but in-depth, and improvements are institutionalised to ensure long-term sustainability," said the minister.