SME Bank Records Stellar 1H 2025 Progress, Empowering 5,735 Entrepreneurs With A 158% Year-On-Year Growth
KUALA LUMPUR: 11 August 2025 – Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia (“SME Bank”), a subsidiary of Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Berhad (“BPMB”), today announced its beyond financing developmental achievements for the first half of 2025 (“1H 2025”). This strong performance reflects SME Bank’s continued alignment with Bank Negara Malaysia’s (“BNM”) Performance Measurement Framework (“PMF”) and the Government’s MADANI economic framework, reinforcing the Bank’s position as one of the nation’s leading Development Financial Institutions (“DFIs”) mandated to empower the entire SME ecosystem.
Delivering High-Impact Beyond Financing & Capacity Building Initiatives
Datuk Dr. Mohammad Hardee Ibrahim, Acting President and Chief Executive Officer of SME Bank said, “Reaffirming SME Bank’s mandate to creating broader developmental impact, we have successfully empowered 5,735 entrepreneurs in the 1H 2025 with the support of our dedicated capacity building and training arm, the Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research (“CEDAR”) as the lead implementer. This reflects a remarkable increase of 158% compared to 2,225 entrepreneurs recorded during the same period in 2024.”
Among the beyond financing programmes entrusted to SME Bank is the Maju Usahawan MADANI programme, which was introduced to strengthen the MSME ecosystem through targeted capacity-building. Spanning from January 2025 to March 2026, the programme aims to assist 3,000 micro entrepreneurs. As of June 2025, a total of 1,632 entrepreneurs have benefited from this initiative, including MSMEs from the Bumiputera community, youth, rural areas, B40 income group, Asnaf, senior citizens and persons with disabilities. On the regional stage, CEDAR has also been appointed ASEAN’s Centre of Excellence for MSMEs in Green Transition, a recognition listed among the Priority Economic Deliverables for Malaysia’s ASEAN Chairmanship in 2025. This milestone affirms SME Bank’s leadership in shaping a more sustainable and inclusive future for enterprises, both at home and across ASEAN.
Empowering Entrepreneurs Through Inclusive Developmental Programmes
SME Bank serves as a catalyst for national SME transformation, going beyond financing to deliver comprehensive capacity building that empowers unserved and underserved enterprises to realise their full potential. The Bank’s efforts span key strategic sectors vital to Malaysia’s economic future, including Bumiputera development, technology and innovation, digital adoption, climate-resilient initiatives, the halal industry and tourism. Through these targeted interventions, SME Bank is equipping entrepreneurs to lead in innovation, embrace sustainability, and compete confidently on both domestic and global stages.
The Halal Entrepreneurship Development Programme has supported over 400 participants since its launch in 2023, while the Program Pembangunan Kapasiti Vendor has onboarded 109 vendors with RM15.87 million incentives approved. As of 2024, 28% of the vendors recorded at least a 5% increase in revenue, contributing to total vendor revenue of RM1.23 billion. The Business Exports Programme, a structured intervention programme funded by the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development (“MECD”) and in collaboration with the Malaysia External Trade Development Corporation (“MATRADE”), has facilitated RM191.93 million in export sales through the onboarding of 98 companies across five phases. These businesses have expanded their footprint into key global markets including Southeast Asia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States.
Subsequently, the SME Bank XCESS, the Bank’s flagship business matching platform, continues to serve as a conduit for Malaysian SMEs to access international markets. In 2024, XCESS generated approximately RM178 million in immediate and potential sales, drawing the participation of around 450 attendees, including 24 international buyers from 12 countries, namely Brazil, Germany, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, South Korea, India, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Indonesia. Riding on this positive momentum, XCESS 2025 is scheduled for 25 September 2025 at the Royale Chulan Hotel, Kuala Lumpur.
Complementing this, the SME Bank iTEKAD ISHRAF, a structured Asnaf entrepreneurship empowerment programme under BNM’s iTEKAD initiative has delivered notable impact since its introduction in 2023 (“ISHRAF 3.0”). The programme has successfully mobilised over RM5 million in crowd-in funds from iTEKAD BNM and strategic partners. To date, the participants have collectively recorded a 126% increase in sales, amounting to RM19.25 million. The programme has also generated 182 new jobs, enabled 314 entrepreneurs to adopt new technologies, and facilitated the creation of 224 business networks.
Meanwhile, to ensure involvement in policy decision, the Bank is assuming a pivotal role in re-establishing the Pusat Dataraya Usahawan, a centralised national database of entrepreneurs. Led by the Ministry of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development, this initiative is aligned with the objectives of the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030, serving as a strategic platform to strengthen data-driven interventions and accelerate growth across the MSME sector.
Charting The Way Forward for High-Impact MSME Empowerment
Looking ahead, SME Bank will continue to play a pivotal role in advancing the MSME agenda with over RM1 billion strategic initiatives mandated to the Bank under the National Budget 2025. This includes delivering both financing and beyond financing support across key strategic sectors such as Bumiputera entrepreneurship, technology and innovation, ESG adoption, the halal economy, and tourism.
Datuk Dr. Mohammad Hardee Ibrahim said “Our robust performance in the 1H 2025 reinforces our dedication to driving impact beyond financing by providing not only capital, but also capacity-building, innovation, and inclusivity to generate meaningful and enduring results. Underscoring our developmental mandate, we are proud to empower thousands of entrepreneurs across the country. As we move forward, SME Bank will continue to be a catalyst for transformation by delivering innovative solutions and facilitating Malaysia’s MSMEs to thrive locally and globally.”
In support of its ongoing initiatives, SME Bank has recently launched new strategic initiatives from the National Budget 2025, which include the MySMELady 2.0, Pembiayaan Ekosistem Payung, Dana Kelestarian Alam and Maju Usahawan Madani programme, alongside the Bank’s Islamic social finance effort through the fourth edition of the SME Bank iTEKAD ISHRAF initiative (“ISHRAF 4.0”). This programme aims to empower approximately 400 entrepreneurs nationwide from the B40 and Asnaf communities to achieve a minimum increase of 10% in their business sales. Other programmes offered by SME Bank include the Vanigham Financing Scheme, SME Technology Transformation Fund, HalalBiz Financing, Social Enterprise Financing Scheme, Jaguh Serantau, the Business Accelerator Programme under the Twelfth Malaysia Plan, and the Dana Kemampanan PMKS Bumiputera 2.0.
Since its inception in 2005, SME Bank has played a vital role in strengthening Malaysia’s economic landscape, disbursing over RM46 billion in financing to more than 24,000 MSMEs. In addition, the Bank, through CEDAR has supported the development of approximately 88,000 entrepreneurs through targeted capacity building initiatives.
