Aria said the bank approved a total of RM2.7bil in financing last year.
PETALING JAYA: Small Medium Enterprise Development Bank Malaysia Bhd (SME Bank) aims to approve RM4bil in financing in 2024, with RM2.5bil aimed at propelling growth for more than 1,000 local small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Chief executive officer Datuk Aria Putera Ismail said the bank approved a total of RM2.7bil in financing last year, of which 90% or RM2.5bil was distributed to SMEs. The remainder of the financing was allocated to commercial funding.
“Some SMEs with more stable operations are eligible for funding from conventional commercial banks and our primary focus is on SMEs encountering challenges in securing financing from traditional banks, and catering to the underserved and unserved,” he said after a visit by Deputy Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Datuk Ramanan Ramakrishnan to SME Bank’s headquarters yesterday.
Aria said among the key sectors for the targeted financing includes high-growth industries identified by the government, technology, healthcare, construction and services.
In addition, he said another focus area for SME Bank this year is entrepreneurship-empowerment programmes, which includes assisting local SMEs to expand their target market as well as penetrating the international market.
He said selected entrepreneurs will be able to participate in several cross-border programmes, which could help them to break into the “international arena” and promote their product in a much wider market. Among international markets targeted are Britain and Europe as well as the United States.
“In February, we will take some SMEs to Dubai for the Gulfood 2024 trade fair. Last year we were able to achieve significant results, collecting about US$30mil in sales.
“This year, we are going to bring more SMEs with related products for the food expo in Dubai,” he added.
Aria said SME Bank will continue to host its SME Bank Xcess business-matching event in 2024 with an even bigger goal, citing the attendance of roughly 100,000 people at last year’s event.
“For that two-day event, we were able to generate about US$45mil in sales, hence, we target a much higher participation for SME Bank Xcess 2024,” he said.
On a separate note, Ramanan applauded the bank for its collaborative efforts with its wholly owned subsidiary, Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research Sdn Bhd (Cedar).
He said Cedar was first set up in 2021, and that up till 2023 had been able to teach over 2,400 entrepreneurs in collaboration with SME Bank.
“This development serves as inspiration for business owners to actively partake in similar initiatives. SME Bank, in turn, is targeting a surge in participant numbers compared to previous instances,” he said.
