KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — DAP’s Bagan MP Lim Guan Eng said Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) has a stronger capacity than Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Berhad (SME Bank) to manage the RM50 million in dedicated loans for Chinese micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

Lim said SME Bank was too small and had a limited branch network to effectively serve Malaysia’s 1.1 million MSMEs.

“Many Malaysian Chinese MSMEs face difficulties accessing SME Bank to benefit from the dedicated RM50 million loan, which aims to support business growth by providing financing for working capital or capital expenditure (asset acquisition),” he said in a statement.

He pointed out that SME Bank has only 17 branches nationwide and questioned how it could adequately service MSMEs located as far away as Perlis and Kelantan, as well as Sabah and Sarawak.

“Although SME Bank claims on its website to have 27 branches nationwide, only 17 individual branches are listed, including its headquarters.

“The remaining 10 are merely duplicate addresses of the SME Bank headquarters or its regional offices,” he said.

Lim said BSN would be better positioned to facilitate the loans due to its nationwide network of 387 branches, particularly in smaller towns across Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.

He added that BSN also has extensive experience and a strong track record in handling dedicated Chinese MSME financing schemes.

“In 2019 and 2020, BSN rapidly and efficiently disbursed dedicated RM50 million and RM100 million Chinese MSME loans respectively, as approved by the Ministry of Finance.

“No complaints were received from Chinese MSMEs regarding BSN’s handling of these interest-free and collateral-free loans. BSN also disbursed the loans swiftly without imposing any additional or extraneous conditions,” he said.

Lim said Chinese MSMEs would be forced to travel long distances, often to Kuala Lumpur or state capitals, to access the loans if they were handled by SME Bank.

“The approval process should be transferred from SME Bank to BSN to allow Chinese MSMEs the convenience of visiting the branch nearest to their businesses,” he said.

Last Friday, the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives announced that Chinese MSMEs would have access to a dedicated RM100 million federal financing scheme to help businesses expand, upgrade and achieve long-term growth.

Its minister Steven Sim said the initiative was part of the ministry’s broader efforts to make funding more inclusive and accessible.

The RM100 million allocation has been split between two implementing banks — RM50 million via SME Bank and RM50 million via Bank Rakyat — and will remain available until the end of the year or until the funds are fully utilised, whichever comes first.