According to a survey conducted in January, “State of our SMEs” by Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (SAMENTA), 54 percent of SMEs have reported substantially lower sales in 2020 as a result of the pandemic, while only 30 percent saw an increase in sales.
Policy and Government Relations Chairman of SAMETA, Datuk William Ng, claimed that the results found were better than expected, given that several sectors such as medical equipment, electronics, logistics, and e-commerce have benefitted from the pandemic. The financial aids the Government has provided, such as wage subsidies, soft loans, and Special Relief Funds were critical in helping SMEs during these unfortunate times.
The aid provided by the Government, and the quick actions taken by SMEs, resulted in only a 10 percent retrenchment rate for all employees from SME companies in 2020, and only 7 percent is expected for 2021.
“We hope the government will continue doing a good job of engaging with civil society before deciding on any policy. And more importantly, come to these engagement sessions with an open mind, rather than using these sessions as mere rubber stamps for their decisions,” Datuk William Ng said.
“SAMENTA, as the country’s oldest SME association, will continue to be a voice for the SMEs, and will speak without fear or favour on issues that affect the SMEs. At the same time, we will continue to serve as a bridge for agencies to reach out to the SMEs and provide timely feedback on issues affecting our SMEs”, he concluded.
SAMENTA Central also introduced its new committee as follows:
| Chairman | Datuk William Ng |
| Deputy Chairman | Datin Lorela Chia |
| Vice Chairman | Suresh Gorasia |
| Committee Members | Dato’ Patrick Ong |
| Edwin Lai | |
| Joey Hui | |
| Maresa Ng | |
| Melissa Chan | |
| Ong Peng Yeow | |
| Stefen Cheng | |
| Timothy Liew | |
| Victor Patrick Yeo |
