SMALL and medium enterprises (SMEs) are expected to recover and continue to contribute significantly to Gross Domestic Product (GDP), exports and employment.
Deputy Premier cum International Trade, Industry and Investment Minister Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said that with the timely provision of assistance (both financial and non-financial) from the federal and Sarawak governments, the activities in all economic sectors would resume.
“SMEs are the backbone of Malaysia’s economy including in Sarawak, and contribute significantly to the national GDP, exports and employment.
“However, the economic repercussions arising from the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of MCO had also impacted the performance of SMEs in 2020,” Awang Tengah pointed out during his ministerial winding up at the DUN sitting yesterday (May 26).
According to him, Malaysia’s GDP was RM1.42 trillion in 2019 but contracted 5.5 per cent to RM 1.34 trillion in 2020.
“Over this difficult period, the contribution of SMEs to Malaysian GDP decreased from RM553.5 billion in 2019 to RM512.8 billion in 2020.
“Total exports by SMEs also decreased from RM176.3 billion in 2019 to RM117.8 billion in 2020, while the SMEs’ employment declined from 7.3 million in 2019 to 7.2 million in 2020.”
