SEREMBAN, April 29 — A total of RM3.5 million has been allocated by the Negri Sembilan Majlis Amanah Rakyat (Mara) for the implementation of the Micro Prihatin Business Financing Scheme (S3P) to help micro-entrepreneurs continue their businesses affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Negri Sembilan Mara director Mimi Mazlin Mohamed Yusof said the S3P was a business financing facility for Bumiputera micro small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in various sectors, except agriculture and livestock.
“As of today, 18 applications have been received involving an allocation of RM500,000 since it was launched in early April and, from that amount, we have approved applications from eight entrepreneurs under the first phase.
“Entrepreneurs are the ones most affected by the pandemic. This is because most of them operate on a small scale, with an income of less than RM300,000 a year, so we try to help them through this S3P,” she told reporters after the S3P financing offer letter presentation, here, tonight.
She said the S3P scheme offered financing up to RM50,000 to micro-entrepreneurs, that is for entrepreneurs with an income value of up to RM300,000 a year or with a maximum of five employees.
She explained that applications for the funding could be made online while those with Internet access issues would be assisted manually by Mara officers.
On April 7, Mara chairman Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun was reported to have said that the government had allocated RM50 million for the S3P scheme, which was introduced under the Strategic Programme to Empower the People and Economy (Pemerkasa), to help about 1,000 entrepreneurs nationwide.
Meanwhile, Mimi Mazlin said Mara Negri Sembilan also allocated RM1.7 million through the DanaNITA Scheme, a special business financing scheme for women, to be channelled specifically to women entrepreneurs in the state. — Bernama
