On 18 August 2026, Her Excellency Ms. Lada Phumas, Ambassador of Thailand to Malaysia, was invited to attend the Special Keynote Address at the SME Forum 2026 under the theme “Navigating Geoeconomic and Geopolitical Disruption: Future-Proofing Malaysian SMEs”, organised by the KSI Strategic Institute for Asia Pacific at the World Trade Centre Kuala Lumpur. The Special Keynote Address was delivered by YB Dato’ Indera Mohd Shahar Abdullah, Deputy Minister of Economy of Malaysia, while Datuk Seri Mohd Iqbal Rawther, Deputy Chairman of the KSI and President of the Economic Club of Kuala Lumpur (ECKL), and Mr. Chin Chee Seong, National President of the SME Association of Malaysia, delivered welcoming remarks. The event was well-attended by more than 200 participants, including members of the diplomatic corps in Malaysia, invited guests and media.

 

The Ambassador met with the Deputy Minister and Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, Chairman of the KSI, and attended the Special Keynote Address whereby the Deputy Minister underscored the importance of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) as one of the key engines of Malaysia’s economic growth and the implementation of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) 2026 – 2030, particularly on fostering the development of business models and creating an enabling ecosystem for MSMEs to reduce operation risks from external factors, raise productivity, and effectively reach the global markets.

 

Under the 13MP, Malaysia aims to increase the share of medium-sized enterprises to 5% and raise the contribution of MSMEs to Malaysia’s GDP to 50% by 2030.