SAMENTA SUGGESTS THAT GOVT SHOULD SET UP RM1 BLN SME VISION FUND

KUALA LUMPUR, May 23 (Bernama) -- The Small and Medium Enterprises Association (SAMENTA) is asking the government to set up a Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Vision Fund anchored by government linked companies, with an initial funding of RM1 billion.

National president Datuk William Ng said the fund could be used to invest in new initial public offerings, with a ticket size of RM50,000 to RM1 million based on criteria to be decided by the fund managers.

“This will create greater confidence among the SMEs to get listed, as it could mean better price discovery and valuation, while giving participating fund partners the opportunity to tap into the SME sector,” he said in a statement.

The statement was issued in response to the launch of the Securities Commission’s (SC) "Catalysing MSME And MTC Access to the Capital Market: 5-Year Roadmap (2024-2028)” earlier today.

Ng said SAMENTA welcomes the roadmap, which targets to have micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) raise RM40 billion through the capital market by 2028 from RM6.3 billion last year. 

According to him, many SMEs find traditional financing to be time consuming in terms of application, approval lead-time and even in disbursements.

“By popularising and empowering equity crowdfunding, SMEs will have the option to secure working capital financing at a relatively shorter time frame,” he said. 

Ng said SAMENTA also welcomes the SC’s commitment to raising the liquidity and valuation of listed SMEs, especially in the LEAP Market.

“Illiquidity and poor valuation remain a major stumbling block for SMEs that are considering listing on Bursa Malaysia,” he said.

-- BERNAMA