"The government, through the SME Corporation, has embarked on a SME Development Programme that encompasses capacity building, financial assistance, market development initiatives and facilitation of export and brand development," said Domestic Trade, Cooperative and Consumerism Deputy Minister Datuk Rohani Abdul Karim.

She said the ministry has a long list of programmes to support the growth of SMEs including the development of the franchise framework, business matching, Taste of Malaysia programme direct sales and more.

"In the coming year, the ministry will also be organising overseas road shows to promote made-in-Malaysia products to help bridge the supply represented by our thousands of SMEs."

SMEs make up about 99.2% of all businesses registered with the Companies Commission, contributes to one third of the GDP, half of all employment and about one fourth of all exports.

Organised by SME Magazine, the SME Solutions Expo 2010 was held from Aug 5 to 7 at the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre and was presented by CIMB Bank Berhad. The event featured over 300 booths and 200 exhibitors from industries such as information technology (IT) vendors, telco companies, internet service providers, business consultants, training providers, logistics partners, media companies and government agencies.

Business Media International (publisher of SME Magazine) group publisher and editor-in-chief William Ng said the expo addresses three main challenges faced by SMEs in Malaysia namely raising finance, attracting world-class human capital and acquiring technology to improve productivity. "As a one-stop solution for SMEs, the expo hosts key vendors that could address these needs, while the concurrent conferences narrow the knowledge gap of SMEs on these crucial choke points," said Ng.

CIMB Group group chief executive Datuk Seri Nazir Razak said modern SMEs are multi-faceted and it is time for banks to up the ante and provide better support for SMEs such as reducing the turnaround time for loans for SMEs.