KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 13 — The Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Bhd (SME Bank) has been conferred a special award by the Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan (SJPP) for its efforts in nurturing and developing the nation’s SME entrepreneurs.
The award was presented to the bank by Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng at the official launch of the Government Guarantee Scheme for SMEs by SJPP recently, the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry (MEDAC) and SME Bank said in a joint statement today.
SJPP is the Minister of Finance Incorporated’s wholly owned company, formed in 2009 to administer and manage government guarantee schemes to enable SMEs to gain access to financing facilities from financial institutions.
MEDAC Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Redzuan Yusof said SME Bank has approved close to RM190 million worth of financing for 195 companies under the government guarantee scheme.
“This initiative has further supported the government’s aspiration to create a conducive ecosystem for SMEs, thus igniting the growth of the sector as envisioned in the National Entrepreneurship Policy 2030 and Shared Vision 2030,” he said.
Meanwhile, SME Bank group president/chief executive officer Aria Putera Ismail said last year, the bank had aggressively promoted access to financing for SMEs and conducted 14 outreach programmes which benefited 1,200 SMEs.
“SME Bank also launched two initiatives under the National SME Digital Platform, namely ScoreXcess, a one-stop platform for micro and small entrepreneurs to obtain financing, and ODELA, a specialised business-to-business e-commerce platform,” he added.
In addition to its digital approach, SME Bank’s entrepreneur development initiatives such as the Upward Migration Program recorded 576 achievements in parameters such as growth in sales and number of employees, technology adoption as well as expansion into global markets.
The bank’s subsidiary, the Center for Entrepreneur Development and Research Sdn Bhd (CEDAR) also organised 126 entrepreneurship training sessions involving more than 2,000 entrepreneurs in 2019. — Bernama
