Chaired by the Chief Secretary to the Government, the HLTF comprise the Secretaries-General / Permanent Secretaries / Directors-General from the M&As. The Director-General of Economic Planning Unit (EPU), the Governor of Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Chief Statistician from the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) are also members of this taskforce.

The HLTF was designed to spearhead and facilitate the implementation of policies and strategies related to the development of SMEs across all economic sectors. In this role, the Taskforce acts to strengthen horizontal cooperation and coordination among M&As and ensure the effective and systematic implementation of policies and action plans as outlined under the SME Masterplan (2012-2020). Rationalisation of SME development programmes are also conducted to ensure optimal utilisation of resources.