Donald Lim： Potential boost for SME Bank

KUALA LUMPUR: The Government is studying the possibility of increasing SME Bank’s paid-up capital to help provide more financing for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), said Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai.

After a dialogue with various parties and industry experts, Lim said: “We found that the paid-up capital of RM1.35bil of SME Bank is very small. We are discussing this and we will have another round of discussions with the government economic council to decide on this.”

Ask about the likelihood of turning SME Bank into a commercial bank, he said: “I can’t answer this now as there are some rules of Bank Negara in this area but there are a lot of suggestions. We can definitely answer this after the 2011 Budget announcement.”
Datuk Donald Lim

Lim said after the launch of the National SME Economic Transformation Conference 2010 and the National SME Financing Conference 2010 yesterday that SMEs played an important role in Malaysia’s economy and that the ministry hoped to identify and assist them, through the dialogues, in areas such as financing, market access and labour.

“The Government is determined to facilitate the growth and development of a competitive and resilient SME sector as a key component of the growth strategy.

“I call upon industries to take this opportunity and use the facilities provided by the Government to enhance the quality and scale of their businesses,” he said.

On another note, Lim said a lot of companies from China were keen to invest in Malaysia and even set up their regional hubs here.

“We are looking to attract funds from China to look at our capital market as well,” he said, adding that the Government was also looking to draw investors from countries like Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, SMI Association of Malaysia national president Chua Tiam Wee said the National SME Economic Transformation Conference 2010 and National SME Financing Conference 2010 would be held on Sept 30 and Oct 1 respectively.

He said the conferences would be held in conjunction with SMI 1-Stop Solution Exhibition 2010 SMIOSS, the 11th International B2B Business Solution Exhibition from Sept 30 to Oct 2 at the Putra World Trade Centre.

“The organising committee is targeting at least 500 participants for each conference, while aiming at 280 exhibitors with at least 30% of them from overseas and 15,000 trade visitors for SMIOSS exhibition,” he said.