KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak officially launched Bursa Malaysia's Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) Market at Invest Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 2017 here today.
Bursa Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Seri Tajuddin Atan said the LEAP Market is an alternative capital raising platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), which is the first of its kind in Asean.
"It is designed to address the funding gap for SMEs and make it easier for them to take their businesses to the next level through raising funds in the capital market.
"It also provides them with a new investable asset class.
"The availability of such a platform would further aid the development of SMEs and support broader economic activities," Tajuddin said.
During the launch, Najib also witnessed the exchange of Memorandum of Understanding documents between Bursa Malaysia and its four strategic partners – Malaysia Digital Economy Corp, Malaysia Technology Development Corp, SME Corp and Unit Peneraju Agenda Bumiputera.
The strategic partners will work together to identify SMEs with the potential to be listed on the LEAP Market.
The parties will also collaborate to jointly develop the SME financing ecosystem and capacity building.
Najib said the launch of the LEAP Market is in line with the government’s SME Masterplan, which aims to raise the share of gross domestic product contributed by SMEs, their number of employees, and their export volume.
"It is another of the many initiatives that my government has put in place in pursuit of our transformation, and that proves our trustworthiness as the business-friendly government of a vibrant economy," he added.