LABUAN: President Of Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) Labuan, Jefery Tan expressed its Labuan, Jefery Tan expressed its appreciation to the Prime Minister cum Finance Minister, Dato’ Seri Anwar Bin Ibrahim for the MADANI Budget tabled recently.
He said, the government has allocated a total value of RM40 billion worth of loan and financing facilities to assist MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise) entrepreneurs. This is evidence that the government is aware of the issues and challenges faced by MSME after the post-COVID19.
Jefery urged MSME which is seeking for working capital support to utilise SJPP (Syarikat Jaminan Pembiayaan Perniagaan) guaranteed SME loans of RM20 billion announced by the Prime Minister as it would allow MSME to obtain access to financing facilities from Financial Institutions via various SJPP Working Capital Scheme, with no collateral required.
However he said, SJPP should waive the annual Guarantee Fee of 1% and Financial Institutions should provide lower interest rates to allow MSME to regain healthy cashflow.
Jefery also urged the government to reduce red tape and expedite the application process to ensure benefits reach the MSME soonest possible. Based on past experiences, the process takes several months and it no longer serves the intended purpose to help MSME.
“ As there is no specific budget tabled for Labuan in the 2023 Budget, we hope that the government could provide the transparency of which agencies that the Labuan MSME can refer to for any grant, loans or incentives.
“SME Labuan is always open to engage with relevant government agencies and business community on MSME related matters” he said in statement here yesterday.