KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 – Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) should embark on digitalisation and automation to boost productivity and tackle rising costs, Small and Medium Enterprises Association of Malaysia (Samenta) national president Datuk William Ng said.
He said the cost of doing business has been on the rise, especially with subsidy rationalisation being on the cards; and the only way to address the issue is by reducing labour costs.
“A possible increment in minimum wage and rolling back of diesel subsidy would have a significant impact on the SMEs,” he said.
Hence, he urged SMEs to further digitalise and automate to cut their reliance on both local and foreign workers.
“The (best) window to do so was during the past two years, but it is still not too late,” he said.
In the first four months of 2024, Ng said, SMEs continued to face challenges after experiencing a difficult 2023, especially those in the manufacturing and export sectors due to the subdued global demand.
He said SMEs have been impacted by the ringgit’s decline and unabated cost increment.
“A number of SMEs, in fact, are rejecting new orders, as they could not be certain they would be able to turn in a profit, given the costs and currency uncertainty.
“At the same time, with the soft domestic demand, those selling domestically could not pass the incremental cost fully to consumers, resulting in a severe margin compression,” he explained.
