SME Bank Welcomes 10 Strategic Initiatives Valued at RM1.17 Billion Announced in National Budget 2025

KUALA LUMPUR: 22 October 2024 – Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Berhad (“SME Bank”) welcomes the 10 strategic initiatives valued at RM1.17 billion announced in the recent National Budget 2025, as presented by Prime Minister Dato' Seri Anwar Ibrahim. These measures reflect the Government's unwavering commitment to strengthening the country's economic resilience and fostering sustainable, inclusive growth.

Datuk Dr. Mohammad Hardee Ibrahim, Acting Group President/Chief Executive Officer of SME Bank stated that the Budget 2025, which saw measures and stimulus amounting to RM421 billion, further underscores the Madani Government's commitment to fostering a resilient nation. This is a reflection of the country’s positive economic sentiments with various measures introduced to stimulate the growth of the overall economy, particularly key affirmative segments.

“We particularly laud the Government’s commitment in empowering the SME segment with the continuation of existing Bank Negara Malaysia (“BNM”) funds for SMEs, in addition to the guarantee schemes managed by Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan Berhad across the priority areas i.e. the Bumiputera, High Technology & ESG, Halal, and Tourism segments as well as the Green Technology Financing Schemes (“GTFS”). These are growth areas where we can continue to tap into in support of the Government’s focus moving forward,” he said.

“We are proud to be entrusted with 10 initiatives, amounting to RM1.17 billion as announced in the National Budget 2025. This reinforces our mandate to create value throughout the MSME ecosystem by delivering comprehensive financing solutions and additional offerings. We have identified key strategic areas for emphasis, including Technology, Tourism, Halal, and ESG-driven sectors, along with other important affirmative segments that play a significant role in the country’s long-term sustainable economic growth, especially in empowering women entrepreneurs.

“The above key strategic areas are also part of the Bank’s intentional strategies attending to the needs of the highly developmental segments, under BNM Performance Measurement Framework (“PMF”) that put emphasis on Development Financial Institution (“DFI”) to promote greater developmental impact”, added Datuk Dr. Mohammad Hardee.

Supporting the Industry4WRD agenda, SME Bank will offer RM400 million financing for MSMEs embracing the technology transformation, whilst reaffirming the Bank’s commitment to nurture the next generation of regional champions with the mobilisation of RM200 million financing to empower Bumiputera MSMEs expand their regional footprint. This is in tandem with the rolling-out of RM5 million capacity-building initiatives to encourage more export activities, with an additional RM2 million to be managed by its subsidiary, the Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research Sdn. Bhd. (“CEDAR”).

“We are pleased to have the opportunity to support the Government’s focus on stimulating key sectors that are vital to our economy's growth, including funding worth RM200 million to reinvigorate the Tourism sector, RM100 million financing specifically to empower women entrepreneurs and bridge the gender gap, RM100 million financing to stimulate more activities in ESG-related sectors, whilst advancing our mandate to boost the growth of the Halal segment by providing RM100 million financing to SMEs that are present in this space. These initiatives reaffirm our ability to drive the growth of sectors where we already have a strong presence, particularly the Halal market and Tourism, while also expanding into high-potential areas such as Sustainable Development. Additionally, we are eager to echo the Government’s call to further strengthen the Bumiputera start-up enterprises by collaborating with established anchors while providing RM50 million financing, in addition to RM15 million in financing to support the development of social enterprises.”

Since its establishment in 2005, SME Bank has been instrumental in supporting Malaysia’s economic landscape by providing financing programmes that total over RM45 billion, benefiting more than 24,000 MSMEs. As the only DFI in the country with a dedicated capacity-building arm, CEDAR, SME Bank has also assisted over 82,000 entrepreneurs in their growth journeys.

Entrepreneurs interested in financing solutions or development programmes can reach out to SME Bank’s Customer Call Centre at 03-2603 7700 or visit www.smebank.com.my for more information.