Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) enjoy various benefits from the Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA), announced by Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin Friday.
To encourage micro-enterprises and SMEs to move to the digital or online services, the government, together with the private sector, will finance the venture through a matching grant of RM140 million. The allocation is to be used for training sessions, vendor subsidies and sales assistance and will be spearheaded by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) along with selected e-commerce platforms.
The government, in collaboration with private companies, will be running a ‘Shop Malaysia Online’ campaign to encourage people to shop online, where promotional codes and various discount vouchers will be provided through the e-commerce platform.
Grants and loans would be offered to SMEs and mid-tier companies to enable more companies to subscribe to or use digitalisation services. This would amount to RM70 million.
Firstly, RM100 million of SME Digital Matching Grants will be provided in collaboration with telecommunication companies; RM500 million under the SME Technology Transformation Fund will be provided as a simple loan; and RM100 million is allocated under the Smart Automation Grants, where each eligible company will receive a grant of up to RM1 million.”
To assist the sustainability of SMEs involved in the targeted sector, the banking sector will offer an additional RM2 billion through the PENJANA SME Financing Scheme. The application process for this financing scheme will begin from mid-June 2020 with a limit of up to RM500,000 per SME.
For micro-enterprises, the government will establish PENJANA Micro Funding in collaboration with Bank Simpanan Nasional and Tekun Nasional for the financing of RM400 million of which RM50 million would be dedicated to women entrepreneurs.
To assist SMEs’ cash flow, beginning in July, SME Bank through the SME-GO Scheme will provide financing to 16,000 qualified G2 and G3 grades contractors who have received projects under Prihatin. No collateral or deposit is required.
