KUALA LUMPUR: The tax cuts for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) next year will help ease their cost of doing business, the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia (ACCCIM) president Tan Sri Low Kian Chuan said.

He said the lower tax rate on taxable income for the first RM100,000 has met the association's recommendation to aid the MSMEs in reviving their businesses.

"The MSMEs have already been burdened with substantial increases in business and operating costs and a two per cent percentage points cut from 17 per cent to 15 per cent will result in RM2,000 savings for 150,000 taxpayers," he said in a statement yesterday.

In a separate statement, Dagang NeXchange Bhd group managing director Tan Sri Syed Zainal Abidin Syed Mohamed Tahir said the SME's funds for digitalisation and automation, investment in locally-owned and high-tech companies as well as relevant grants and tax incentives could help generate their growth and expansion.

"Incentives to push for overall digitalisation can promote the adoption of digital technology amongst SMEs, private and public sectors and lead to a rise in innovation, enhanced productivity and services improvement," he said.

In Budget 2023, RM10 billion in loan funds will be made available through Bank Negara to encourage the automation and digitisation of SMEs as well as support the food security agenda and the recovery of the tourism sector.

The Federation of Malaysian Manufacturers (FMM) president Tan Sri Soh Thian Lai said the RM1 billion allocation for the Low Carbon Transition Facility to assist SMEs adopting low carbon practices as well as RM10 million matching grant to assist SMEs conducting carbon assessment is a good start for them to kick-start their environment, social and governance (ESG) journey.

"Moving forward, more funding would be required in the ensuing years to help SMEs sustain and continue with their ESG journey," he said in another statement.

Meanwhile, Tune Protect Group Bhd chief executive officer Rohit Nambiar said the RM305 million allocation through the Penjaja Muda scheme for youths entrepreneurs provided strong encouragement towards young entrepreneurship and would help address unemployment, nurture young talent as well as bring new growth opportunities to the economy.

"One of Tune Protect's business pillars targets SMEs to help mitigate against risk factors that come with owning a business.

"To further strengthen our offering to this underserved market and bridge the protection gap, we will be rolling out a new product targeted at SMEs, particularly for their employees within the next couple of months," he said in another statement.

"Proactively addressing challenges faced by ecosystem stakeholders through effectively driving investment initiatives will be vital in energising the sector to fully capture its growth potential," he said in a statement.

-- BERNAMA