Bursa Malaysia's Leading Entrepreneur Accelerator Platform (LEAP) Market, a new qualified market which offers an alternative for SMEs to raise funds and grow their business to the next level, was officially launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak at Invest Malaysia Kuala Lumpur 2017 here today.
The Prime Minister 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.
The new market aims to provide SMEs with an alternative and efficient fund raising platform and visibility through the capital market where wealthy investors can lend money via the capital market to the SMEs.
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 strategic partners will support in the identification of potential SMEs to be listed on the LEAP market and also collaborate to jointly develop the SME financing eco-system and capacity building.
To date, 11 SMEs have engaged LEAP's approved advisors to assist them with the listing process. Potential issuers, according to Bursa's circular at the launch include, Cloudaron Pte Ltd, Agrofresh International Group Sdn Bhd, Red Ideas Holdings Sdn Bhd and Polymer Link Sdn Bhd.
