Meta has launched the Small Business Growth Academy (SBGA) in partnership with the Ministry of Entrepreneurship & Cooperatives Development (KUSKOP) to help micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) use AI-enabled tools and WhatsApp for Business to find and connect with customers, improve productivity, and grow across borders.
Research finds that 8 in 10 Malaysians prefer messaging to reach a business, and the SBGA supports MSMEs in meeting that demand. The SBGA delivers free webinars and in-person workshops on AI-enabled advertising, high-performing Instagram Reels, WhatsApp for Business, cross-border commerce, and the newly launched Meta Business Agent – an AI agent that helps businesses respond to customers 24×7, directly within their existing chat threads. All SBGA training content is also available for free on the Meta Blueprint online learning platform, so more Malaysian small businesses can access it.
The payoff for getting these tools right is already measurable. Businesses in Malaysia earned an average return on ad spend (ROAS) of MYR 2.98 for every MYR 1 invested on Meta platforms – and those using AI-driven features such as Advantage+ see a further 17% lift in ROAS2. SBGA is designed to close exactly that gap: from basic usage to AI-driven growth.
SBGA is the next chapter of Meta’s MSME upskilling programmes with government partners – including the National Entrepreneurship Institute (INSKEN), SME Corp, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), and Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) – which has reached over 6,500 Malaysian businesses since 2022.
YB Steven Sim, Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (KUSKOP), said, “Today we launched the Small Business Growth Academy (SBGA) in Malaysia, with INSKEN as the lead implementation agency. SBGA supports our PowerUp10K initiative to build the capacity of 100,000 entrepreneurs nationwide. MSMEs make up 97% of our businesses and nearly half of our workforce. When a local seller in Penang or Sarawak is empowered with WhatsApp Business and AI tools, we are not just helping one enterprise scale – we are moving closer to our goal of MSMEs contributing half of Malaysia’s GDP by 2030.”
Sook Ping Lau, Country Director, Meta Malaysia, said “80% of Malaysians prefer messaging to reach a business3, and WhatsApp is already where Malaysians talk to the businesses they rely on. That makes it the fastest route to growth for any Malaysian business – from the country’s largest brands to a seller with just a few employees. With the Meta Business Agent, they can now respond to every customer instantly, around the clock, turning those conversations into leads and sales. Our role is to make sure that capability reaches businesses of every size, not just the largest – and Meta’s Small Business Growth Academy, with our government partners, is how we do it.”
Viviantie Sarjuni, Chief Executive Officer of the National Entrepreneurship Institute (INSKEN) said, “What Malaysian MSMEs need is structured capability-building on AI, so they can move from basic usage to real business growth. INSKEN and Meta brings practical AI tools directly to our MSMEs – through hands-on workshops that help them move from experimenting with technology to building scalable businesses.”
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