Wayne Lim, Regional Group CEO of Malaysia SME (MSME) Inc., who released the directory, said that a complimentary circulation of 10,000 copies of the directory and CD ROMs would be distributed to SMEs, government ministries, government departments and agencies, MNCs, large corporations and overseas.

Beside the directory and CD ROM, he said, "Like Malaysia, the Brunei SME online portal and mobile information was already in the pipeline." With so much to look forward to and with solutions at their fingertips, he hoped SMEs will be inspired, motivated to contribute positively to the nation's economy.

"SMEs are companies whose full-time employees or turnover falls below certain limits. SMEs make up over 90 per cent of business establishments in the world," he said, adding that every country has its own definition of what constitutes an SME. For example, in Malaysia, SMEs are businesses with less than 150 full-time employees and annual turnover of less than 25 million.

In the context of Brunei, an SME is defined as a business establishment that employs not more than 100 people or with fixed assets of not more than $5 million. Enterprises employing no more than 10 people are categorised as a small enterprise, while those employing between 11 and 100 people are medium enterprises.

He said in 2002, out of the total of 6,817 establishments in Brunei, 97 per cent were SMEs. Small enterprises made up 72.9 per cent (4,972) while 25.5 per cent (1,739) were medium enterprises. Wholesale, retail, construction, mining and manufacturing were the main sectors constituting about 58 per cent of all establishments.

Interestingly, the SME share of private sector employment in Brunei is higher than that of the United States, Singapore and Canada. Its SME share is high at 59 per cent compared to the United States at 41.5 per cent, Singapore at 43.1 per cent and Canada at 49.5 per cent.