SMEs urged to build a broader brand portfolio

KUALA LUMPUR: Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are urged to move from the usual focus on building businesses to a broader branding concept in order to grow further.

The Small & Medium Industries (SMI) Association of Malaysia national president Teh Kee Sin said many SMEs today find it difficult to gain entry into certain markets.

"This might be because their products are still weak in terms of packaging and branding, which would unfairly reflect on the quality of the products," Teh said after the Media Prima Bhd (MPB) luncheon with SMI Association of Malaysia here yesterday.

Also present at the luncheon were MPB chairman Datuk Johan Jaafar, MPB group managing director Datuk Amrin Awaluddin and New Straits Times Press group managing editor Abdul Jalil Hamid.

Teh said SMEs are expected to play an increasingly important role for the country to make the quantum leap in its development.

"We hope we can remake the SMEs, so that the sector can contribute more to the growth of the country's gross domestic product (GDP)," he said.

By 2020, Teh said, SMEs are expected to contribute 42 per cent to the country's growth.

"This is in line with the new economic model to boost SMEs' share in the GDP to develop Malaysia into a high-income nation."

Currently, SMEs' contribution to the country's GDP is at 32 per cent.

Commenting on the collaboration with MPB, Teh said the company will use MPB as a platform to boost the industry by promoting SMEs through MPB's media channels.

"We hope we can uplift the qualities of SMEs to move them up in line with the government's call for the transformation," he said.