Focus on micro-entrepreneurs in Budget 2018 to boost entrepreneurship growth - MIA

KUALA LUMPUR: The numerous programmes and incentives focused on the development of micro-entrepreneurs in the recent 2018 Budget are expected to further boost the development and growth of entrepreneurship going forward.
Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA) Chief Executive Officer, Dr Nurmazilah Datuk Mahzan said, however, microenterprises generally lack in-house expertise and suffer from human resource deficiency.
"Various studies found that the growth of small business enterprises is influenced by management abilities such as finance, marketing, human resource, and operations management.
"Financial mismanagement as one of the key contributors to the failure of small enterprises can impact their performance," she said in a statement today.
In the budget announcement yesterday, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak revealed an allocation for micro-entrepreneurs, which included RM500 million to the National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (TEKUN) and RM80 million to the Skim Pembiayaan Ekonomi Desa (SPED).
Nurmazilah explained that it was important to put start-ups and business advisors in touch with financial management at an early stage to bridge the skill and knowledge gap.
The MIA also applauded the government allocation of RM90 million to the Program Peneraju Professional, Skil dan Tunas.
"As the national accountancy body, MIA has and will continue to work with Peneraju to increase the number of Bumiputera accountants in Malaysia," it added. — Bernama