Abstract:

Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are significance for sustainable development of an economy. The Malaysian government has started to make SMEs one of the priorities for the country development since the Asian economic crisis in 1997. Various assistances have been implemented to facilitate the development of SMEs. Nevertheless, the efficiency and effectiveness of the government assistance programmes are questionable. Thus, this study aims to investigate the problems with the SMEs assistance programmes in Malaysia and suggests solutions for the problems. The problems highlight in this study include inappropriate channels used to communicate the assistance programmes, too many ministries or agencies involve in the assistance programmes, negative perceptions for the assistance programmes, the “Ali Baba” problem, and lack of motivation to adopt the assistance programmes among the SMEs owner managers. This study recommends the government to implement a more personal approach in promoting and explaining the functions and benefits of the assistance programmes, to be more transparent in managing the programmes, simplified the structure of assistance programmes, and formulate a special audit unit to monitor the assistance programmes.