KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 20 — Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), CIMB Bank Bhd and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd have entered into a partnership to offer financing solutions to small and medium enterprise (SME) vendors in the Oil and Gas Service Equipment (OGSE) sector.
The collaboration under Petronas Vendor Financing Programme (VFP) was marked by an exchange of memoranda of understanding (MoU) here today.
According to a joint statement from Petronas and CIMB, the VFP is one of the initiatives under Petronas’ Lestari programme – a solution and collaborative platform to empower SME vendors in the OGSE ecosystem.
Established in May 2018, the VFP is a strategic collaboration between the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Petronas to assist Malaysian OGSE vendors adversely affected by the oil price crisis in securing working capital and improving their cash-flow to sustain their businesses.
Petronas Project Delivery and Technology Group procurement vice-president Liza Mustapha said the strategic alliance between Petronas and CIMB would further empower SME vendors in facing market volatility and challenging realities with an array of financing solutions to suit SME needs while catalysing the development of the oil and gas ecosystem for the benefit of the nation.
She said as of December 2019, the programme received around 130 applications and RM814 million worth of funding had been approved.
“The VFP has benefited a number of SME vendors in the industry. This has resulted in not only vendors being able to stay afloat during trying times but also propel them towards achieving significant success.
“It goes without saying that the programme would not have achieved such a positive impact without the support of financial institutions such as CIMB that shares the passion to support SME growth in line with the government’s aspiration,” she added.
Meanwhile, CIMB said it would support the Petronas’ OGSE vendors on value-chain financing with extensive commercial banking coverage across Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
Under the MoU, the vendors will have access to the financing facilities to cater to their specific needs for procurements or contracts.
CIMB joins the VFP as the ninth panel bank after Bank Islam, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), RHB Bank, HSBC Bank Malaysia Bhd, United Overseas Bank (UOB), Export-Import Bank Malaysia Bhd (EXIM), Bank Rakyat and Bank Muamalat. — Bernama
