I visited two factories yesterday. The first company was Combat Coating (M) Sdn Bhd and the other, Sipro Plastic Industries Sdn Bhd. Those in the automotive sector should be familiar with the names as they are renowned local SMEs providing their products and services to domestic automakers like PROTON, Perodua, Toyota and NAZA KIA to name a few.

These companies bear testament to the Government’s efforts in developing local SMEs. They are the products of Malaysia-Japan Automotive Industrial Cooperation or better known as MAJAICO programme. The programme, costing some RM7 million, has assisted 77 Malaysian companies so far in manufacturing quality components. Through process improvements, companies will be able to improve quality and increase productivity.

We need more local SMEs capable of supplying their products to multinational corporations. We do not want them to only supply to the domestic market, but also to reach-out globally. The government on its part is trying hard to bring in quality investments both locally and from abroad. Quality investments provide quality jobs to the local market thus contribute to better living conditions. That’s my job as the Minister of MITI!