SMEs WILL NOT BE NEGLECTED, SAYS MINISTER

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 20 (Bernama) -- Given the rapid expansion of large-scale
wholesale and retail enterprises, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) involved
in the distributive trade activities will not be neglected, said Minister in the
Prime Minister's Department Nor Mohamed Yakcop.

Instead SMEs would be accorded greater attention and assistance to
increase their domestic market share and develop their business and promote
self-employment.

As more than 85 per cent of the SMEs in the country are involved in the
distributive trade activities, they represent an important segment of the
economy and form an integral part of the value chain, he said.

This sub-sector contributed as much as 12.8 per cent to the Gross Domestic
Product last year, improving from 11.2 per cent in 2000, he said when launching
the Census of Distributive Trade 2009 at the Putrajaya International Convention
Centre (PICC) here Thursday.

The text of his speech was read out by the Economic Planning Unit
Director-General Noriyah Ahmad.

Of the 10.6 million people employed in the country last year, about 1.7
million or 16 per cent were engaged in this sector, the minister said.

The distributive trade sector in Malaysia encompasses wholesale and retail
trade and motor vehicle activities. It is the largest sub-sector in the
services sector.

Nor Mohamed said this sub-sector recorded an average annual growth of 5.2
per cent in total sales from RM159.6 billion (US$45.2 billion) in 2000 to
RM354.6 billion (US$100.5 billion) in 2008.

Under the current Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010), this sub-sector is
expected to grow at an average of 6.8 per cent per annum, he said.

He said the vibrancy of the sevices sub-sector, among others, was largely
influenced by the changes in demographics, lifestyles and expansion of
cities and large towns in conurbation areas.

About 400,000 companies and businesses are involved in the wholesale,
retail and motor vehicle activities as surveyed in the census conducted between
May and December this year.

Nor Mohamed said data from this census was crucial to analyse the changing
structure of the distributive trade sector and provide a benchmark data for the
compilation of national accounts.

The data was also timely and would be extensively used for the formulation
of the 10th Malaysia Plan (2011-2015), he said.

He said statistics were needed to monitor and forecast economic trends and
cycles and for formulating government programmes that support business.

The minister said data from this sector could assist businessmen in planning
their business development strategies, monitor and promote the industry.

" Every business can benefit from comparing its performance with the
industry's average performance whether nationally or at state level," he added.
-- BERNAMA