A total of 230 tenants of the SME Bank Entrepreneur Premises Complexes are now exempted from paying the rent during the moratorium period from April to September 2020 as SME Bank has taken the initiative to absorb the rental cost. In addition, they will also be given a 50% reduction in rental payments for the next 6 months, effective from October 2020 to March 2021.

Dato Sri Dr. Haji Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) said, “this rental payment exemption initiative for the period April to September 2020 will provide the entrepreneurs with operating cost savings of RM2.3 million. Meanwhile, for the 50% discount on rental payments for the next six months will provide savings of more than RM1.15 million to the tenants.

The steps taken by SME Bank are in line with the announcement of 29 short and medium term initiatives undertaken by MEDAC to assist more than 20,000 SME entrepreneurs to improve their business performance after being affected by COVID-19.

Aria Putera Ismail, Group President/Chief Executive Officer of SME Bank said, “To simplify the process, this initiative will be carried out automatically and the tenants do not need to make any application. For tenants who continue to pay during this moratorium period, their payment will be carried forward. SME Bank Entrepreneur Premises Complex is one of the beyond financing initiatives provided by the Bank specifically for local SME entrepreneurs. The complexes are located in 26 strategic locations throughout the country and offers 454 factory lots. These factory lots are rented at a reasonable and competitive rate.”

Aria added, “SME Bank has been very proactive in ensuring that the assistance can be provided quickly and efficiently to SMEs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. SME Bank has offered the SME Relief Program (SRP) to alleviate the financial burden of targeted SME entrepreneurs, allocated funds worth RM2.1 billion for the SME Go Scheme and SME Technology Transformation Fund (STTF) under PENJANA and provides various funds as announced by the Government through PRIHATIN such as the Special Relief Facility (SRF), Agrofood Facility (AF), Automation and Digitalisation Facilities (ADF) and All Economic Sectors (AES) Facility.”

Tenants of SME Bank Entrepreneur Premises Complexes who wish to obtain more information on these initiatives can call the Customer Contact Centre at 03-26037700 or contact their branch officer for more information.