BINTULU : 11 April 2017 – SME Bank Sarawak Region targets to approve financing worth RM222 million to eligible Sarawak SME companies this year. In total, SME Bank Sarawak Region has approved more than RM1.3 billion of financing and assisted 1,042 entrepreneurs since it started operations in Sarawak.

Datuk Mohd. Radzif, Group Managing Director of SME Bank shared this information during the Sarawak Region Mini XCESS Programme held in Bintulu with the objective of providing financing solutions for Sarawak SME entrepreneurs.

SME Bank Mini XCESS is an annual event held with the aim to reach out to the SME entrepreneurs directly. Two sessions were organised by SME Bank’s Sarawak Regional Centre during last year’s Outreach Programme and it attracted almost 290 entrepreneurs.

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. From January to now, we have engaged with approximately 1,500 SME entrepreneurs and Bintulu is the last venue before we conclude this first series programme this year.”

SME Bank is committed towards assisting the SME entrepreneurs in Sarawak, particularly in Bintulu and its eco-system to ensure that the development projects initiated by the State Government will be achieved according to plan.

SME Bank Sarawak Regional Centre operates with four network of branches namely Kuching Enterprise Centre, Miri Enterprise Centre, Bintulu Business Centre and Kuching UTC.

SME entrepreneurs are encouraged to be involved with all activities organized by SME Bank to keep abreast of the latest offerings and development, engage directly with the officers or visit any of the network of branches for their financial and developmental
needs. Alternatively, the entrepreneurs can communicate directly with the Bank via its Mobile Application which can be downloaded through AppleStore or Play Store.

Since its establishment in 2005, SME Bank has approved a total financing amounting RM26 billion and assisted more than 15,000 SME entrepreneurs. The Bank’s Upward Migration programme has successfully upgraded more than 800 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 34,000 participants in various SME entrepreneurial training programmes.

The SME Bank Mini XCESS Sarawak 2017 is officiated by YB Datuk Haji Talib bin Zulpilip, Assistant Minister of Urbanization and Assistant Minister of Infrastructure Development, Sarawak. MITI, MIDA, MPC and Celcom Axiata also participated as strategic partners for the event.