ALOR SETAR : 27 July 2016 – The continuous efforts undertaken by SME Bank Northern Regional Centre in assisting the SME entrepreneurs in Kedah, Perlis, Penang and Perak has enabled the Bank to approve financing more than RM685 million to nearly 980 SME entrepreneurs up to present.  Datuk Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus, SME Bank Group Managing Director said this during the SME Bank Group Outreach Program held in Alor Setar, Kedah today.

SME Bank Outreach Program is an annual event held throughout the country with the aim to reach out to the SME entrepreneurs directly.  The Outreach Program for Northern Regional Centre today is the fourth location for the second series of SME Bank engagement session with SME entrepreneurs.  This second series of Outreach Program will be continued to another two selected locations i.e. Tawau for Sabah Regional Centre and Miri for Sarawak Regional Centre in August.

SME Bank Group Managing Director, Datuk Mohd Radzif Mohd Yunus said, “The Outreach Program, which aims to resolve the problem of access to financing faced by SMEs, has attracted almost 3,000 SME entrepreneurs. For the first Outreach Program, SME Bank has approved financing amounting RM295 million to more than 108 SME entrepreneurs.”

He added, “This entrepreneur engagement program is important to us at SME Bank because it gives us an opportunity to understand problems faced by entrepreneurs in expanding their businesses and also to meet their financing needs.”

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.

YB Dato’ Dr. Ku Abdul Rahman Ku Ismail, a member of the State Council and Chairman of the Committee on Industry and Investment, Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs & Cooperative Kedah State, was present to launch the program.