SME CORP, PERNAS, SAUDI ARABIA'S MONSHA'AT SIGN MOU TO BOLSTER STRATEGIC COOPERATION

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 (Bernama) -- SME Corporation Malaysia (SME Corp) and Perbadanan Nasional Berhad (Pernas) signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Saudi Arabia’s Small and Medium Enterprises General Authority (Monsha’at) at the Biban24 Forum in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. 

Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Datuk Ewon Benedick said that under the MoU, SME Corp and Pernas aim to strengthen strategic cooperation in the focus sector of small and medium enterprises (SME) and franchising with SME agencies in the Middle East.

“I and Saudi Arabia’s Trade Minister Dr Majid Abdullah Al-Kassabiah witnessed the MoU signing between SME Corp, Pernas and Monsha’at.

“We hope to foster stronger cooperation between these two agencies of the ministry as well as between the two governments and also among companies from both countries,” he said in a statement today. 

Ewon, along with a delegation from the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Development (KUSKOP), was on a two-day working visit to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, since Tuesday. 

During his visit, the minister also officiated the Malaysia Pavilion in conjunction with the Biban24 Forum organised by Monsha’at from Nov 5-9 at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Convention Centre. 

According to Ewon, 30 Malaysian SME companies, franchises, and cooperatives participated in the pavilion.

The participants were entrepreneurs developed by KUSKOP agencies, namely SME Bank, SME Corp, Pernas, the Malaysian Cooperative Commission, and the Malaysian Franchise Association. 

“This is the biggest opportunity for Malaysian entrepreneurs and franchise companies to participate in the biggest SME exhibition in Saudi Arabia and seize the opportunity to expand their market or export their products in the Middle East,” he added. 

-- BERNAMA