Only 1.1% of SMEs in agricultural sector
KOTA KINABALU: A GROUP of 30 bumi entrepreneurs from Tuaran, Keningau, Tambunan, Penampang, Kinarut, and Tenom requested for a meeting to find out more what SME Sabah can do for them if they join as members.
The group led by Alfred Korom and Edward Tee met with 13 SME Sabah Council members for a very lively and productive exchange.
SME Sabah president Foo Ngee Kee, who briefed the group on the objectives of the association, said only 10,218 SMEs or 1.1% of total SMEs in Malaysia are in the agricultural sector.
The agriculture sector has a lot of potential for expansion and diversification, especially for SMEs in Sabah.
Sabah has vast tracks of suitable farming land that has yet to be developed and endowed with a great tropical climate.
There is a huge market for tropical fruits like durians, bananas, coconuts, etc in China.
SME Sabah is also working closely with Malaysia China Chamber of Commerce ( Sabah Branch) (MCCCS) to tap the China market through SME Sabah Permanent Hon President Datuk Frankie Liew, who is the President of MCCCS. SME Sabah president Foo is also the First VP of MCCCS.
One of the planters, Marie Chuan (Keningau) conveyed their challenges as farmers. While they are able to produce, unfortunately they have difficulty finding buyers for their farm produce. Some produce like Sacha inchi seeds need further special processing.
Marie said they needed a ready market for their mass cultivated products or some local processing plant to buy their produce for further downstream processing. She hopes that SME Sabah can provide guidance.
Dr. Roslyn Gelunu, the president of Penggerak Sosial, Seni Budaya & Ekonomi Kiulu and deputy president of KDCA Kiulu also mentioned that local farmers needed to progress from just selling their produce at the ‘tamu’. She is hoping SME Sabah can assist them to tap a bigger market for their farm produce.
Malenie Annol, a retired banker said local farmers had been introduced to a lot of commercial groups and also given trainings on cultivation. For instance, the famous Tambunan ginger, farmers had tried to export their products to Singapore.
However, they are required to produce an organic certification which is difficult to get and takes a long time. She added that farmers needed to have a proper buy back contract to overcome their marketing problems.
Another local entrepreneur builder, Darwin Tan, said the younger generation was having different mindsets nowadays.
They are reluctant to explore into the agricultural sector due to their fear of failure and repayment of loans from banks to finance their businesses.
One of SME Sabah’s six purposes is, “To assist SMEs in Sabah in enhancing operational efficiency and fostering professionalism at national and international levels, including the creation of new markets”.
SME Sabah hopes to help the agriculture sector in Sabah to grow and develop faster in all aspects by another of its six purposes; “Acting as a medium to facilitate interaction between SMEs and the government, large companies, international corporations in Malaysia and foreign corporations.”
At the end of the meeting, Alfred Korom (Edu Agic & Nursery), Edward Tee (Pharmaceutical/Agriculture), Mdm MarieChuan (banana, oil palm and sacha inchi), Albertus Ongkudon (Plantation in Tambunan with >1,000acres), Dr Rosalyn (Agric Eco) and others joined on the spot as SME Sabah members.
All new members will also receive an FOC SME Sabah collar pin while stocks last.
The Courtyard Hotel 1Borneo, a Ministry of Tourism rated threestar hotel offered a 20% discount on all types of room rates and F&B packages for SME Association of Sabah members.
Overall it was a very successful meeting. SME Sabah is very happy to have new Bumi members from the interior districts of Sabah, who are mainly agrobased entrepreneurs.
SME Sabah is a multiracial business association established in March 2018 with the objectives of promoting, providing support, services and solutions towards the best interest of small and medium industries, enterprises and businesses in Sabah.
President Foo thanked all those who were present for having faith in SME Sabah and SME Sabah first council members will do their best to serve the members. They also hope to meet other groups who have similar requirements to know more about SME Sabah and its activities.