Kuala Lumpur, 17 August 2020 – The Ministry of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives (MEDAC) says it will continue to give attention to micro and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and cooperatives post-COVID-19.
Deputy Minister Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said the ministry aims to provide assistance to SMEs not only during the pandemic but also before and after it.
“But the most important focus is after the pandemic, because the biggest impact on entrepreneurs and cooperatives is after (the pandemic), and the ministry is organising many programmes for the post-COVID-19 period,” she said in reply to a question from Noor Amin Ahmad (PH-Kangar) at the Dewan Rakyat today on the ministry’s plans to assist SMEs post-COVID-19.
She said the government will also focus on the rescheduling of loan repayments and is ready to discuss with entrepreneurs on ways to help them as well as collaborate with other parties, besides looking into the need for alternative financing for affected micro and SME entrepreneurs.
The government will launch a programme with Axiata Digital soon to enable “unbankable” entrepreneurs to get financing approved within three minutes with minimal documentation, with an amount of between RM1,000 and RM10,000 to be banked into their accounts within two days, she added.
As of July 2020, the ministry, through its agencies such as Tekun Nasional, SME Bank, SME Corp and Bank Rakyat, has disbursed some RM47.4 billion in financing to 485,000 micro and SME entrepreneurs as well as cooperatives, she noted.
-BERNAMA
