Skip to playerSkip to main content
  • 1 day ago
Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Steven Sim outlined plans to boost Malaysian SMEs’ productivity and resilience amid global economic and energy volatility.

Speaking at the Star Outstanding Business Awards 2025 Gala Night, he highlighted the government’s reforms, including anti-corruption recoveries, targeted fuel subsidies, and low-cost financing. Sim introduced the “A-B-C-D” strategy: Accelerate productivity, reduce Bureaucracy, make Capital accessible, and drive market Development.

WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news
SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar
LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Category

🗞
News
Transcript
00:04I always like to ask this question, what time is it?
00:08I know I'm a bit late just now, but that was because horrible jam outside and I came from KL.
00:15But I asked what time is it to take stock of our situation?
00:21Recently I heard a YouTube video of a speech by an ASEAN statesman, former foreign minister of Singapore, Mr George
00:36Yeo.
00:37He compared the current geopolitical situation with an analogy from this very famous novel from China called The Three-Body
00:52Problem by Liu Zixing.
00:55If you have not read the novel, you can watch the series on Netflix.
01:00I've only watched the first season, I don't understand a thing.
01:03The Three-Bodies Problem.
01:04Basically it describes a planet with three suns.
01:08We only have one sun, imagine three suns.
01:11So the gravitational pull between all these planetary bodies will cause a lot of chaos.
01:17There's a lot of unpredictability, you can't predict the climate, you can't predict the weather, you can't predict anything.
01:24So there's basically utter chaos.
01:27So there is some sort of predictability.
01:29But today, when we are dealing with a multi-polar world, you don't have to read Liu Zixing Santhi or
01:37Three-Body Problem.
01:39You imagine our roundabout, and I'm not talking about KR roundabout, I'm talking about Penang roundabout, right?
01:48You have your factory in Penang.
01:51Imagine every car, lorries, buses, big and small, motorcycles, bicycles, all trying to get into the roundabout to get into
02:00their own direction.
02:01No lines, no lanes, no traffic light.
02:05Almost like no rules, right?
02:07So this is the situation.
02:09If you are not careful, there will be a collision.
02:10I have consistently called for our growth model in Malaysia to be transformed from a low cost, low price, what
02:19I call made in Malaysia model,
02:22into a high value, high growth made by Malaysia model.
02:27And when I came to the ministry, I have decided to direct the focus of our ministry into just one
02:37single mission.
02:39That is, to make Malaysian businesses great,
02:43Hebatkan perniagaan Malaysia.
02:45Rang Malaysia chieh, kenjia chiantak.
02:51I know time is not with me, right?
02:54Not because it's going to be a change of government, but because the election schedule is coming on us.
02:59So I know time is not slow.
03:00I said, forget about other things, just do one thing alone.
03:04That is to make Malaysian businesses great.
03:06I aligned 15,000 staff, civil servants, including SME Corp, represented by Saudara Rizal here,
03:15to just this one task, via a framework of what I call ABCD strategy.
03:23And to realise this mission,
03:26to realise this mission,
03:27I'm proud to say that this whole year,
03:30we're embarking on what I call Power Up 10,000 campaign.
03:34Under this campaign, 5 KPIs.
03:37Number one, we will release up to 15 billion ringgit in low-cost financing into the SME market.
03:45This is an increase from last year, about 10 billion.
03:50Number two, we target to help at least 10,000 Malaysian businesses at various levels to scale up.
03:58Number three, we will deploy at least 100 million ringgit this year to train up to 100,000 entrepreneurs
04:06in various capacity building programs.
04:10Because when I talked to the bank, I was talking to the bank on Monday.
04:13Miss Emily was there.
04:15I spoke to 16 top bankers in this country.
04:18Two weeks ago, I spoke to the capital market.
04:20I said, all of you have to gear up, have to power up, help us to help the SMEs.
04:25Some of them said, we want to help the SMEs.
04:27But governance is a problem.
04:29We want to help the SMEs.
04:30Family-owned business, decision-making is very confusing.
04:34We want to help SMEs.
04:35Paperwork is not in place.
04:36So that's why I said, we want to deploy at least 100 million
04:40to train up in terms of capacity building for 100,000 entrepreneurs.
04:44Number four, we aim to help the SME sector
04:48to achieve a value added of beyond 750 billion ringgit this year.
04:55Basically, we want to help SME to push up SME sector GDP
04:59to beyond 750 billion from about 600 over a billion.
05:03And finally, in the medium term, even if I cannot do it this year,
05:10the medium term aspiration is to create what I call
05:15the 100 times 100 Madani Club,
05:18where we want to help at least 100 Malaysian companies
05:22to hit 100 million ringgit in the medium term.
05:27This is power up 10,000.
05:29Very practical.
05:30We are not going to waste time on other things.
05:32We're just going to focus our attention
05:34to make Malaysian businesses great.
05:36As of February of 2026,
05:40I have announced about 4 billion in financing
05:44and I'm glad to say that 2 billion ringgit has been approved
05:48in this power up financing to companies across the country.
05:53We're not going to waste time on African American food.
06:00Every number of companies around estiver
06:00means that we're not going to be admitted to $30,000 before we go.
06:01We're going to bounce on the middle of that.
06:01Every number of companies around the country
06:02and also our podcast gets to consider
06:02a big party where they're going to work for
06:03tavalla puedes Prairie,
06:03how that's going to business тебе
06:04and philanthropy right through his approach by
06:05Pr Sin 4競ala
06:05is a part of 결buster
06:05complication
06:05and a contemporaryacha
06:05You
Comments

Recommended