ch have been written in various forms with re spect to Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). In spite of this, a compilation of works on “cross border SMEs”, especially between Malaysia and Indonesia, has still not been made available to the public. Prior to addressing the issue at hand, let us look at what we mean by MSMEs for Malaysia and Indonesia? Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have been defined differently in both countries. So far, there has not been a unified definition that is accepted by all. In Malaysia, SME Corp, a coordinating body on SMEs, refers to micro size SMEs as companies with sales turnover of less than RM300,000 and employees less than five. However, for small size SMEs in the manufacturing sector, it refers to companies that have sales turnover between RM300,000 and RM15 million and employees between 5 and 75 people, while in the services sector it is described as companies that have sales turnover between RM300,000 and RM3 million, and employees between 5 and 30 people. As for medium size SMEs, in the manufacturing sector, it includes companies with sales turnover between RM15 million and 50 million, and vi HILMAN LATIEF employees between 75 and 200 people. However, in the services sector, companies that have sales turnover between 15 million and RM 20 million and employees between 30 and 75 people are already considered as medium size SMEs. In Indonesia, MSMEs are defined as those enterprises which have full time employment of less than 100 employees with a substantial proportion of them consisting of micro enterprises with not more than five full-time employees. Elsewhere in these two nations, SMEs are much regarded as “unsung heroes” as they play significant economic and social roles by offering new job opportunities, lowering unemployment rate, increasing competition and productivity, and providing substantial benefits to the economy of the two countries, Malaysia and Indonesia alike. The SMEs in both the neighboring nations are considered to be the backbone of the modern-day economy. Thus, it is far from being a surely not a “fish bone” anymore. The importance of this segment is undisputed. For instance, a total of 98.5 percent of the Malaysian business establishments are SMEs. In 2017, these businesses were responsible for 37.1 percent of the country’s GDP, 66 percent the total employment of the country, and 17.3 percent of the total Malaysian export. The annual growth of these SMEs’ contributions towards the GDP, employment and export are 7.2 percent, 3.4 percent and 7.9 percent respectively. A more or less similar example can be illustrated for the Indonesian counterpart. The importance of MSMEs in the Indonesian national economy has been well noted. There are more than 56.8 million MSMEs establishments and they consist of approximately 99.9 percent of the total number of enterprises. It can be further emphasized that within MSMEs, microenterprises seem to be more dominant compared to small and medium enterprises. It covers about 98.7 percent, while small and medium enterprises represent only about 1.13 percent and 0.09 percent respectively. Having those figures are insufficient as there is a yawning gap between the needs, demands and policy responses in SMEs that often dampen their prospects. The recent economic turbulence has only added to SMEs’ problems. In this regard, SMEs in both nations have also been struggling for the improvement in the cost reducing industries by providing relatively lower prices which bring transformation to the industrial structure and development of new markets along with large and multinational corporations (MNCs). SMEs directly and indirectly assist and facilitate growth, multiply and replicate into sufficient mass across industries and sectors. Starting in the late 70s and early 80s, SMEs have started to become more innovative and flexible in terms of reducing cost, technology adoption and diversification of products. Hence, it becomes imperative for us to ensure that SMEs, which are facing one of the toughest times in the industrial history, are strongly supported by the relevant stakeholders; governments, financial agencies, institutions and associations. Realizing the need to leverage further on the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in these two brotherly countries, Malaysia and Indonesia, a small group of scholars/researchers from IIUM, UMY, UNIDA Gontor and UNISSULA have collaboratively embarked on a little-known project known as the Research Matching Grant Schemes (RMGS), International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), Project ID: RMGS 17-001-0027. After a successful Malaysia- Indonesia Workshop on SMEs in 2019, that was conducted to present all the RMGS findings, a subsequent effort is to compile the selected-relevant papers in the form of a book to enable the knowledge and the latest findings to be shared with the public at large. Thus, the book, “Cross Border SMEs: Malaysia and Indonesia”, is put forward as an extension of a compilation of works designed to foster the status, growth, progress and development of SMEs, especially in Malaysia and Indonesia. Such an effort has not been made elsewhere. In view of this, we would like to extend our appreciation to the Research Management Center (RMC) of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), the research centers of Universitas Muhammadiyah Yogyakarta (UMY), Universitas Darussalam (UNIDA) Gontor, and Universitas Islam Sultan Agung (UNISSULA) for undoubtedly giving us the opportunity by providing research grants under RMGS. The grants from our respective institutions enabled us to generate and integrate these research papers into an edited book. Therefore, special thanks and the flagship’s appreciation to those who have contributed their papers and their efforts and unquestionable support which have eventually led to this edited book.