KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21 — United Overseas Bank (Malaysia) Bhd (UOB Malaysia) has entered into an agreement with Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan Berhad (SJPP) to offer government-guaranteed financing to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Chief executive officer of UOB Malaysia, Wong Kim Choong, said that the partnership will enable SMEs to obtain collateral-free loans of up to RM1 million through the SJPP-UOB BizMoney financial solutions.

This sum is twice the amount available to customers under the existing UOB BizMoney package. SJPP will guarantee up to 70 per cent of the loan through its Working Capital Guarantee Scheme and Services Sector Guarantee Scheme.

“According to our research, more than half of Malaysian SMEs expect to grow their revenue in 2018. While the majority aim to expand overseas, many also plan to invest in technology infrastructure to help them drive business performance.

“We also help SMEs increase their productivity for business growth. By providing scalable digital solutions, such as UOB SmartBusiness, we help them streamline and automate their administrative systems and processes,” he said in a statement.

Wong added that UOB Malaysia also offer SMEs a wide range of term-financing solutions to meet their working capital needs or to acquire fixed assets.

The SJPP-UOB BizMoney financial solutions provides flexible repayment tenures of 18, 24, 36, 48 or 60 months, with interest rates starting from 0.54 per cent per month.

Principal officer of SJPP Dr Nungsari Ahmad Radhi, meanwhile, said the government is committed to providing continuous support to SMEs through various initiatives, products and services.

“This includes the various government-guaranteed schemes managed by SJPP that have benefited more than 13,000 enterprises,” said Nugsari.

SJPP is a company wholly owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated, and its role is to administer and manage various Government guarantee schemes, namely the Working Capital Guarantee Scheme, Industry Restructuring Financing Guarantee Scheme, 10th Malaysia Plan Working Capital Guarantee Scheme, and Services Sector Guarantee Scheme among others.

To find out more about SJPP-UOB BizMoney, customers can visit uob.my or their nearest UOB Malaysia branch nationwide. — Bernama