KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 15 (Bernama) -- A total of 1,204 micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have benefited from SME Corp Malaysia’s (SME Corp) Industry and Business Support Programme (SINAR) as of Sept 30, according to the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry (MECD).
Deputy Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin said the programme, announced in June, provides access to financing and additional business support for MSMEs.
“SINAR is one of SME Corp’s efforts to assist MSMEs affected by the global crisis, especially the disruption in the supply chains and the rising cost of doing business and fuel prices which have affected business operations,” he said during the Minister’s Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said this in response to a question from Datuk Iskandar Dzulkarnain Abdul Khalid, the Kuala Kangsar Member of Parliament (MP), on the implementation status of the SINAR programme and the ministry’s mechanisms to ensure that MSMEs benefit from it.
Mohamad said the programme involved a total allocation of RM205 million through several initiatives, including RM30 million for the Soft Financing Scheme for MSMEs, under which loans totalling RM7.12 million have been approved for eight MSMEs.
Meanwhile, under the MSME Capacity and Capability Enhancement Scheme, loans amounting to RM8.88 million had been approved for 18 MSMEs, while the Programme for Enhancement of Strategic Industry and High Growth Enterprise (PRESTIGE) 2.0 Financing Scheme had benefited 15 MSMEs through approved loans totalling RM11.53 million.
A total of RM5 million was allocated for the Inclusive Business Scaling Programme, which had benefited 192 MSMEs through grants amounting to RM4.64 million to-date.
Additionally, 971 MSMEs have also benefited from the 50 per cent discount for MSME Status Certificates, he said, adding that the discount will be offered until Dec 31, 2026 to enable more MSMEs to obtain official confirmation of their status and access entrepreneurial assistance.
In a related development, he said Budget 2027 provided RM67.9 billion in support for MSME development through financing and guarantee facilities, expansion of market access, human capital development, and digitalisation and automation.
Mohamad said SME Corp Malaysia had been allocated RM137 million for MSME development programmes next year, an increase of 17 per cent from RM117 million in 2026.
In his reply to a supplementary question from the Kuala Kangsar MP on how the allocation would be utilised, he said RM50 million had been set aside for the SME Scale-Up Catalyst Fund, comprising RM35 million in loans and RM15 million in investments.
Other initiatives include the PKSlestari Programme; PRESTIGE; the MSME Bursa Malaysia listing-readiness programme; PKS@Akses; the Tunas Usahawan Belia Bumiputera (TUBE) programme and the GrowBiz Micro Scaling Programme.
-- BERNAMA