13th October 2026 - 3 min read
Budget 2027 gives MATRADE, the national export agency, RM60 million to help small businesses (MSMEs) start selling overseas or find new markets. MATRADE says the money will go into 200 export activities in 2027. It’s aiming for RM12 billion in export sales from them.
Malaysia’s exports are already growing fast. They rose 31.2% in the first eight months of 2026 to RM1.36 trillion, according to DOSM’s latest trade data. The government wants small businesses to take a bigger share of those sales.
This year’s money goes into MATRADE’s Export Resilience and Market Diversification Fund. It pays for export development and promotion activities that MATRADE runs, including the MATRADE Academy, so you’d benefit by joining one. Budget 2026 gave MATRADE the same amount, which went into its Market Development Grant.
MATRADE expects to reach more than 3,500 companies across the country, including Sabah and Sarawak, and 60 of them Bumiputera. Its RM12 billion sales target works out to RM200 in export sales for every RM1 of the fund.
The RM60 million is one of several Budget 2027 measures for small businesses that sell, or want to sell, abroad.
| Measure | Amount | What It’s For |
| Export financing from Bank Pembangunan Malaysia (BPMB) | RM1 billion | MSMEs looking to enter export markets |
| Loan and financing guarantees | Raised from RM50 billion to RM57 billion | Helping businesses get approved for financing |
| Extra financing from Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) | RM5 billion | SMEs hit by the conflict in West Asia |
| JOM Malaysia | RM10 million | Getting rural products and services onto online platforms and into foreign markets |
The BNM money tops up the SME Stabilisation Relief Facility BNM launched in April. That takes the fund from RM5 billion to RM10 billion. RM3.8 billion of it had been approved by 30 September. he facility now stays open until 30 June 2027 instead of closing at the end of this year.
If your costs have gone up or your orders have dropped because of the conflict, you apply through your bank. Under the terms set in April, you can borrow up to RM750,000. You get up to five years to repay, at no more than 3.75% a year.
The tax incentive for taking part in international trade exhibitions has also been extended. You can keep claiming it until Year of Assessment 2030.
If you run a small business and want a place on next year’s programmes, start by registering on the MADANI Digital Trade Platform. It’s where you sign up for MATRADE’s programmes and apply for its Market Development Grant, which is still open. The grant pays back part of what you spend on trade fairs and trade missions, up to RM300,000 over the life of your business. You’ll need to submit your claim within 30 calendar days of the event ending.
Together, the grant and the tax incentive can cut what a trade fair costs you in 2027. BPMB hasn’t said yet how to apply for its RM1 billion in export financing. If you need financing sooner, you can compare SME business loans from banks.
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Christina writes about personal finance with an eye for making the complicated feel straightforward. She is drawn to the everyday money decisions people face and genuinely enjoys finding the clearest way to explain them. Between articles, she is probably napping, on a hiking trail, or terrorising her sister’s cats.
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