By TMR / Pic By MUHD AMIN NAHARUL

SME Corp has clarified that the latest revision to small and medium enterprise (SME) definition was undertaken by SME Corp Malaysia in 2013 and was endorsed at the 14th National SME Development Council (NSDC) Meeting in July 2013.

SME Corp was referring to The Malaysian Reserve’s article titled “New definition of SME shuts out companies from grants” published on Feb 20, 2018. The article said there was a new revised definition to SMEs.

SME Corp said the review of SME definition has resulted in more firms being classified as SMEs due to the increased threshold on annual sales turnover and full-time employment.

For the manufacturing sector, the threshold for annual sales turnover was doubled from RM25 million previously to RM50 million, while for the services sector, the sales turnover threshold was quadrupled from RM5 million previously to RM20 million.

As a result, more than 8,000 firms previously classified as large firms were reclassified as medium firms, and hence able to enjoy the benefits extended to SMEs, including grants from the government.

The decision to exclude public listed companies in the main board and their subsidiaries, as well as subsidiaries of large firms, multinational corporations, government- linked companies, Syarikat Menteri Kewangan Diperbadankan and state-owned enterprises, was also endorsed at the 14th NSDC Meeting.