KUALA LUMPUR: The East Coast Economic Region Development Council (ECER) has launched the Bumiputera Commercial and Industrial Community (BCIC) and a RM10 million SME Leveraging Fund as part of its ECER Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EEDP).
The RM10 million fund will be used to top-up differences between interest rates imposed by commercial banks, and the interest rates intended for the EEDP.
It is aimed at stepping up government and private partnership where the private sector plays a key role in providing loan funds for entrepreneurship development programmes.
The implementation of the fund was formalised on Tuesday, Aug 16 after ECER inked agreements with Agrobank and SIRIM Bhd.
Signing on behalf of ECER was its chief executive officer Datuk Jebasingam Issace John, while Agrobank was represented by its CEO Wan Mohd Fadzmin Wan Othman and SIRIM by its acting president and chief executive Dr Zainail Abidin Mohd Yusof.
Wan Mohd Fadzmin said Agrobank would allocate RM27 million to RM30 million for the scheme.
The agreement will see Agrobank assist all EEDP entrepreneurs shortlisted by ECERDC and SIRIM with regards to soft or micro loan applications at a special interest rate, via the top-up mechanism.
Agrobank will provide SME loans of between RM50,000 and RM250,000 as well micro credit loans of up to RM50,000 to entrepreneurs with a maximum tenure of 60 months in ECER's key sectors.
For any loans with an interest rate of above 4%, the fund will kick in.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of the Economic Planning Unit Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who witnessed the signing of the agreement said entrepreneurs and SMEs faced many challenges, adding that emerging entrepreneurs sometimes only needed credit irrespective of costs during the initial start-up period.
Meanwhile, Jebasingam said the partnership with Agrobank and SIRIM would at least 100 BCIC entrepreneurs and SMEs from ECER by the end of 2012.
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The RM10 million fund will be used to top-up differences between interest rates imposed by commercial banks, and the interest rates intended for the EEDP.
It is aimed at stepping up government and private partnership where the private sector plays a key role in providing loan funds for entrepreneurship development programmes.
The implementation of the fund was formalised on Tuesday, Aug 16 after ECER inked agreements with Agrobank and SIRIM Bhd.
Signing on behalf of ECER was its chief executive officer Datuk Jebasingam Issace John, while Agrobank was represented by its CEO Wan Mohd Fadzmin Wan Othman and SIRIM by its acting president and chief executive Dr Zainail Abidin Mohd Yusof.
Wan Mohd Fadzmin said Agrobank would allocate RM27 million to RM30 million for the scheme.
The agreement will see Agrobank assist all EEDP entrepreneurs shortlisted by ECERDC and SIRIM with regards to soft or micro loan applications at a special interest rate, via the top-up mechanism.
Agrobank will provide SME loans of between RM50,000 and RM250,000 as well micro credit loans of up to RM50,000 to entrepreneurs with a maximum tenure of 60 months in ECER's key sectors.
For any loans with an interest rate of above 4%, the fund will kick in.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department in charge of the Economic Planning Unit Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who witnessed the signing of the agreement said entrepreneurs and SMEs faced many challenges, adding that emerging entrepreneurs sometimes only needed credit irrespective of costs during the initial start-up period.
Meanwhile, Jebasingam said the partnership with Agrobank and SIRIM would at least 100 BCIC entrepreneurs and SMEs from ECER by the end of 2012.
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