Malaysian SMEs can now stamp their mark

SMALL- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can now look to having their products recognised and accepted both locally and abroad with the National Mark, a new quality accreditation tag developed by the Small and Medium Industries Development Corp (Smidec).

International Trade and Industry Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin described it as a way to help Malaysian manufacturers, especially SMEs, become globally competitive when economies recover and see an upturn.

Products which carry this imprint would be immediately recognised as products of quality, thus enabling them to move up the ladder of quality and reduce the perception that SME products are of low quality, unreliable and unattractive.

"If a company's product carries the National Mark logo, it means, firstly, that the product is Malaysian made and, secondly, it is of a quality that is competitive globally," he said at the launch of the new national tag in conjunction with the Brand Enterpreneur Conference 2008 in Kuala Lumpur recently.

So far six companies, which underwent trial, have complied. Participating companies need to get their products certified through ISO9000 or ISO 14000 and comply with various standards in their respective industries.

Products that qualify will be given the right to use the National Mark for two years. Muhyiddin said although the evaluation exercise will cost RM10,000 per company, SMEs can utilise special grants to assist them in this regard.

He added that companies with the National Mark logo will have easy access to Brand Promotion Grants under his ministry, as well as automatic participation in trade missions overseas.

The Malaysia External Trade Development Corp and Tourism Malaysia will also actively introduce and promote the National Mark abroad.

Under the Ninth Malaysia Plan, the government has extended RM623 million for SMEs in the manufacturing sector.

For 2008, total financial assistance for the development of SMEs totalled RM3.8 billion.

Later at a media briefing, Muhyiddin said it was not the government's role to function as a bank to address lending issues.

"The government may assist businesses by giving soft loans and grants but the bigger chunk of financial facility would come from the banks," he said in response to a recent suggestion by former Proton chief executive officer Tengku Tan Sri Mahaleel Tengku Ariff that the government steps in to spur activities in the motor trade and construction.

Banks should be fair to businesses and "not be too stingy" in processing applications, just because they are having psychological problems about what is happening in Europe and the US, said Muhyiddin.

"In times like these, they (banks) should be more proactive. Otherwise, the economy will shrink further as people want to continue to trade.

If the export facilities are not granted, who is going to export?"

On the second stimulus package to be announced on March 10, Muhyiddin hoped it will take into account the problems faced by the SMEs.

Source: Business Times