Bank Negara Malaysia is pleased to announce the official handover of the National SME Development Council (NSDC) Secretariat function to the Small and Medium Industries Development Corporation (SMIDEC). With expanded functions, SMIDEC will be transformed into the SME Central Coordinating Agency, to be known as SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp).

Bank Negara Malaysia has served as the NSDC Secretariat since its establishment on 1 June 2004. Since the establishment of the Council, various measures have been implemented to further strengthen the infrastructure and foundation to promote competitive and resilient SMEs. Some key initiatives and achievements of the Council include:

• Consolidation of the Government's SME development programmes into an annual blueprint. This has resulted in greater coordination between Ministries and Agencies to produce more effective programmes for SMEs;
• Programmes have become performance-driven to achieve the desired objectives and targets;
• Greater access to financing for SMEs and microenterprises across all sectors;
• More extensive financial advisory services for SMEs, including financial restructuring;
• Better dissemination of information for SMEs through the SMEinfo Portal, the SME Annual Report and various other communication channels;
• Improved coordination of training and marketing programmes made available to SMEs; and
• Standardization of SME definitions and the development of a comprehensive SME Database that is essential for compilation of vital information on progress and performance of SMEs

The SMEs have now achieved higher productivity levels across the main sectors of the economy, with productivity growth of 5.3% by SMEs in the manufacturing sector. The availability and quality of financing and advisory services to SMEs have also improved arising from the strengthened institutional arrangements.

SME Corp. will continue the role of the Secretariat in undertaking the overall coordination of SME policy formulation and assessment of the performance of SME development programmes across all sectors. The SME Corp. will also serve as the central point of information, reference and advisory services for SMEs. SME Corp will begin its operations on 2 January 2009.

The establishment of a dedicated SME Agency represents a major structural enhancement to the SME development agenda towards the development of competitive and resilient SMEs.