KUALA LUMPUR, March 1 — Bank Rakyat has set up a number of Small and Medium Enterprises and Cooperatives business centres (SMEC) to empower the country’s entrepreneurial development sector.

SMEC is a one-stop centre that provides holistic advisory and financing services for micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives, with the ability to achieve a RM1.0 billion funding approval target for SME entrepreneurs and RM75 million for micro-entrepreneurs  in 2021.

It also enables such category of customers to deal with Bank Rakyat without having to go to the bank’s branches.

To date, three SMECs, in Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Melaka have commenced operations while seven more will be opened nationwide including in Sabah and Sarawak.

Other than coming in person to the SMEC, customers can also virtually access the services by scanning the Quick Response to Entrepreneur (QR2E) code to perform digital banking.

In a statement, Bank Rakyat said the initiative is in line with its Strategic Plan 2025 (BR25) to enhance its financial assets through a specific business centre offering financing facilities for entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the SMEC is a manifestation of the ministry’s agenda as stated in the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030 to position Malaysia amongst the fully entrepreneurial countries by that year.

He said the objective of the policy is to boost the economic contribution of SMEs to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP), to 50 per cent by 2030.

"In line with the National Entrepreneurship Framework, the establishment of SMEC is consistent with the government’s call for banking institutions to continue supporting economic recovery and protect the sources of income of Malaysians impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"SMEC will also provide opportunities for micro-entrepreneurs to develop their businesses in the SME industry thus improving the economic status of the community, especially the B40 entrepreneurs,” Wan Junaidi said during a visit to an SMEC at Bank Rakyat Twin Towers recently. — Bernama