KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian small and medium enterprise (SME) sector remains buoyant with a strong double-digit growth in profit.
The SMEs registered a 73.1 per cent growth in revenue and 97.67 per cent in profit based on the SME100 survey of top 100 companies nominated for the SME100 Awards by SME Magazine.
“We saw a lot of uncertainties leading to the general election last year. However, from June onwards, we can see visible signs of reinvestments and growth among our SMEs”, group publisher of Business Media International Datuk William Ng said in a statement.
He said the 2019 Budget would create greater certainty, leading to a more robust growth and consumer sentiment.
“This, in turn, hopefully, will translate into a stronger growth across all sectors,” he said.
Overall, he said the professional and business services sector made up the highest number of winners of the SME100 Awards at 17 per cent, followed by the telecommunications and information and communications technology sector at 15 per cent.
The food and beverages, construction, property development and building materials sectors made eight per cent of the award winners.
Among most outstanding companies are Agape Superior Living Sdn Bhd, Brilliant Watch Sdn Bhd, Core Home Management Sdn Bhd, Federal Oats Mills Sdn Bhd, and Konsortium E-Mutiara Bhd.
Ng said the rapid growth of the technology sector enabled it to remain among the top three sectors, finishing third position after professional and business services.
“The challenge for SMEs over the next five years is how to overcome disruption, find their niche and benefit from the rapid transition into Industry 4.0. Many of our SMEs are poorly prepared. We have a tight learning curve, which will determine if we remain an ASEAN powerhouse or a footnote in history,” he said.
SME Magazine has also introduced a new award, the SME100-CTOS Credit Excellence Award to honour SMEs for their consistent credit, including history of business, viability and sustainability based on financial reports, credibility and reputation of the business owner, and overall growth of the company.
The winners were Baccus Marketing Sdn Bhd, EZ Flex Consulting Sdn Bhd, FTK Solution Sdn Bhd, Kluang Coffee Powder Factor Sdn Bhd, and Smart Trends International Sdn Bhd. –Bernama
