KUALA LUMPUR: Small and Medium Enterprise Corp Malaysia (SME Corp) targets 30 companies to be certified by the National Mark of Malaysian Brand under its SME brand development programm by year-end. 

The National Mark of Malaysian Brand was introduced by the government to certify SMEs producing products that illustrate characteristics of the Malaysian brand.

SME Corp will also allocate 10 per cent of the RM269 million under the first rolling plan for women entrepreneurs this year and in 2012.

SME Corp chief executive officer Datuk Hafsah Hashim said currently less than one per cent of the funds has been disbursed as an enabler for women to start their enterprises.

She added that there are more than 12,000 women entrepreneurs involved in various programmes offered by SME Corp.

"Entrepreneur are required to follow all the programmes planned by SME Corp that aims to assist them based on their needs to grow," she said at Alliance Bank 2011 Women Entrepreneur Forum here yesterday.

She added that the corporation understand the plight of women entrepreneurs and challenges faced by them.