PETALING JAYA: The Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (Samenta) has voiced concern that the government may be lulled into believing that SMEs are doing well because of the strong economic rebound, moderation of inflation and strengthening of the ringgit.
Contrary to the belief, national president Datuk William Ng said many SMEs are badly impacted by the additional cost of doing business and are mulling steep increases in selling prices.
“The margin compression challenge is further exacerbated by increased compliance cost posed by the upcoming e-invoicing mandate and ESG standards adherence and reporting. Despite these, various government agencies and local authorities are increasing their fees to SMEs by between 15% and 250%. Many SMEs are desperate for help, but do not know where or how to find those help,” he said in a statement.
Ng said Samenta is hopeful that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is aware of the issues and will refrain from introducing any new and incremental taxes that may further diminish the competitiveness of their SMEs.
Instead, he added, the focus should be on helping their SMEs scale, manage their costs, and tap into the various opportunities presented by the energy transition, climate change, aging population, artificial intelligence and the shifting global economic order.
Adding to the statement made by Treasury secretary-general Datuk Johan Mahmood Merican with regard to the engagement with the industry on Budget 2025, Ng said that while it is true that their input, as the oldest and largest association for SMEs, is considered by various ministries as part of the Budget 2025 process, they were specifically denied participation by the Ministry of Finance at a crucial engagement by the prime minister with industry associations in July.
“We were instead asked to drop ‘any suggestions or proposals’ to the ministry’s website,” he said.
“We had wanted to appeal to the PM directly to ensure that the challenges of SMEs are addressed in Budget 2025. This includes ensuring the recent economic rally triggers down to SMEs at the grassroot level. In our various surveys and engagements with SMEs since early this year, the consensus is that despite the strong economic headlines, most SMEs continue to face margin compression and are being displaced by a combination of digital disruption, labour shortage and increasing compliance costs,” Ng said.
He added that they remain committed to supporting Ekonomi Madani and the prime minister, and hope that the grouses of their SMEs are addressed.
“If we have been vocal, to the point of being blocked from a direct engagement, it is only because we share in the vision of the prime minister and would want him to succeed,” Ng remarked.
