PETALING JAYA, May 23 (Bernama) -- Malaysian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) is expected to contribute 62 per cent to the country's employment and 25 per cent to its exports by 2020, says SME Corporation's chief executive officer, Datuk Hafsah Hashim.

Currently, Malaysian SMEs account for 59 per cent of employment while their contribution to exports is 19 per cent, she said.

In order to see through this, SMEs need a different and innovative business approach, Hafsah said in her keynote address at the SME Business Conference 2012 - "Empowering Businesses" launch, here Wednesday.

"On SMEs gross domestic product (GDP) contribution, our aim is at 41 per cent by 2020 and with that we need to grow one percentage point every year to meet the minimum target.

"The growth of SMEs need to go on a different mode - a 'leap frog' growth because currently SMEs GDP contribution is at 32 per cent and we have eight years left before 2020," she said.

-- BERNAMA