Zim proposes SME stock market

The Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) has proposed the establishment of a small to medium-size enterprise (SME) stock exchange, reports The Herald.

The ZNCC says the exchange will act as a core mechanism in the enhancement of the sector's viability and overall contribution to the national GDP.

"The primary benefits for the small to medium capital markets would include increasing the integration of the informal sector into the economy, and attracting local and foreign investments in the sector,” says Trust Chikohora, deputy president of the ZNCC.

The SME Corporation Malaysia, an agency focused on the development of SMEs, has partnered with the government-funded Multimedia Development Corporation to increase the adoption of the MDEX e-commerce platform, states Bernama.

The partnership is aiming to get 2 000 SMEs to use the solution within the year.

Datuk Hafsah Hashim, SME Corporation's CEO, says: “E-commerce is a cost-effective and smart way to reach out to potential customers, but many SMEs had wrong notions about doing business online.” Some 92% of local SMEs have Internet access but only 30% of them use an e-commerce system.

As planned, the Korean government has stopped providing emergency liquidity to SMEs, writes The Korean Herald.

According to the Bank of Korea, the Financial Services Commission and the Ministry of Strategy and Finance, the economic conditions no longer warrant the measures taken in response to the recession.

The Korean economy has seen a 2.1% quarter-on-quarter growth during the first quarter of 2010, with the unemployment dropping 3.2%, and exports increasing by 41.9%.