SME Corp: Outreach Programmes Boost Industry Players' Knowledge On AEC, TPPA

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 (Bernama) -- SME Corp Malaysia's continuous outreach programmes have significantly created better awareness and understanding among industry players on various issues pertaining to the sector, including those related to ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA). Its Chief Executive Officer, Dr Hafsah Hashim, said this year alone, 60 outreach programmes were carried out nationwide, together with other relevant agencies. "When we conducted a survey in April this year, only 1.3 per cent of the 2,336 SMEs surveyed really understood how AEC is going to benefit them and we found out that only 13 per cent of the companies had heard about AEC. "But when we conducted the similar survey last September and October, 60 per cent of them have had good knowledge of AEC's benefits as well as better understanding on TPPA," she told reporters after attending the 19th National SMEs Development Council meeting at the Parliament here Monday. The meeting was chaired by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak. Earlier, Najib had also launched the SME Corp's mobile application which featured government programmes and financial assistance schemes that were available to SME businesses, among others. --BERNAMA