KUALA LUMPUR: Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SME Corp Malaysia to improve the competitiveness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).
Both parties will jointly provide access for SMEs to participate in various events, training programmes, awards and other resources.
They will also offer comprehensive financial products and services to enhance SMEs’ capabilities and capacity.
SME Corp chairman Datuk Seri Syed Hussien Al Habshee said the strategic cooperation was part of the proactive efforts to provide viable business opportunities to the Malaysian SMEs.
“By leveraging the business-to-business platform offered by Bank Islam as well as the financing support stated in the MoU, we hope that such initiatives could assist SMEs to sustain their operations, especially during this challenging time,” said Syed Hussien.
Bank Islam chief executive officer Mohd Muazzam Mohamed said the collaboration would benefit its SME customers to enroll for the Shariah-compliant SME Financing Scheme (SSFS).
Muazzam said the government, through SME Corp, had allocated a two per cent profit rebate to SME financing amounting RM4 billion under the SSFS initiative.
“Since the commencement of the financing scheme in 2013, Bank Islam has supported 121 SME customers with financing amounts totalling more than RM133 million.
“With a comprehensive offering to benefit the SMEs, we aim to grow these numbers with the signing of the MoU today,” he said.
As an added value to this strategic collaboration, Bank Islam will also extend its suite of Shariah-compliant products and services to fulfil customers’ various needs.
The services include working capital requirements and capital expenditure (capex), trade financing, financial relief assistance, bancatakaful, cash management and e-banking solutions.
The bank will launch SMEXpert mobile app soon to support the entire SME ecosystem with business and financial resources. — New Straits Times