1MINE proposes govt to establish FTZ for SMEs

KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Indian Network of Entrepreneurs Association (1MINE) has suggested to the government to form a Free Trade Zone (FTZ) to help the 300,000-odd small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

Its president, Datuk S.Gopinath, said such a facility could provide SMEs with the necessary infrastructure for global trade and allow them to “buy and sell globally’ without much restriction.

“A Free Trade Zone for SMEs will allow the country to further benefit from the globalisation trend.

“For a start, the government could consider allocating a piece of land in an area where there is geographical advantages for trade,” he told Bernama in an exclusive interview yesterday.

Gopinath noted that almost 97 per cent of Malaysia’s businesses currently are either SMEs or micro enterprises and they collectively contribute more than 30 per cent to the gross domestic product.

He said this when asked about 1MINE’s wishlist for the upcoming Budget 2018 to be tabled in Parliament next month.

Commenting further, Gopinath saidlocalSMEshadalreadystarted trading at the international level through a variety of channels and platforms.

“But the scale is nevertheless still very small, and there is much room for expansion.

“WiththehelpofFTZ,theseSMEs will be able to significantly expand the scale of their international trades,” he said.

In a related matter, Gopinath said cutting red tape for the SMEs should be the most important business priority for the government. — Bernama