TAWAU : 5 August 2016 – More than 100 SME entrepreneurs in Tawau gathered at SME Bank’s Sabah Region Outreach Programme to explore various financing options and developmental programmes designed by SME Bank to help the entrepreneurs elevate their businesses to the next level.

Datuk Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus, the Group Managing Director of SME Bank said, “The annual outreach programme is one of our efforts in resolving issues pertaining to access to financing and the response from SME entrepreneurs thus far have been very positive. We have engaged with more than 3000 entrepreneurs nationwide and Tawau is the second last venue before we conclude the programme this year in Miri scheduled to take place on 10 August 2016.”

He added, “Sabah Region has always been one of our focus areas and since the opening of our branches in Kota Kinabalu and Tawau, we have approved more than RM1.5 billion worth of financing and assisted a total of 1,617 customers. For this year, we are targeting to approve financing worth RM252 million to Sabah Region’s SME entrepreneurs.”

Based on the economic landscape of Tawau and its surrounding areas, SME Bank is offering several financing options that will benefit the SME entrepreneurs. Among them include the Working Capital Guarantee Scheme (WCGS) which offers working capital financing up to RM5 million with zero collateral, i-Enterprise Premise Financing (i-EPF) provides up to 150% financing of the market value and the term period can be stretched up to 30 years.

As alternatives, SME entrepreneurs can opt for “Tabung Industri Kecil (TIKS)” financing while the Bumiputera SME Entrepreneurs can consider taking up the “Tabung Usahawan Baru 2 (TUB2)” to meet their financing needs. TIKS and TUB2 offer financing up to RM5 million with the financing rate ranging from 4% to 6% per annum.

Since its inception in 2005 until June 2016, SME Bank has approved RM24.6 billion worth of financing to more than 14,495 customers.  The Bank’s Upward Migration program has successfully upgraded more than 630 SME businesses to a higher level.  Meanwhile, CEDAR or Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research Sdn. Bhd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of SME Bank, has successfully coached more than 28,818 participants in various SME development programs.

SME Bank’s commitment in assisting SMEs to grow and remain competitive have been recognized internationally by the Association of Development Financing Institutions in Asia and the Pacific (ADFIAP) in Apia, Samoa on 2 May 2016 when it received the awards for Outstanding Development Project for the Graduate Entrepreneur Fund (TUS) and Best Sustainability Report 2014.  Datuk Mohd Radzif also received the Outstanding CEO Award 2016 from ADFIAP.

The event was officiated by YB Chua Tee Yong, Deputy Minister (Trade), Ministry of International Trade and Industry.