By Ashley Sim
KUCHING, Jan 25: The Sarawak government will continue to provide financial assistance in the form of soft loans up to RM50,000 through the Sarawak Micro Credit Scheme (SKMS) for entrepreneurs looking to expand or diversify their businesses at zero or low interest rates.
Deputy Premier of Sarawak Datuk Amar Awang Tengah Ali Hasan also stated that financial assistance in the form of a soft loan of up to RM250,000 is available to Bumiputera entrepreneurs in the manufacturing and services sectors through the Small And Medium Industry Scheme (SPIKS).
He further stated that the Sarawak government is providing grants through the Graduates Towards Entrepreneurship (Gerak) programme, the Technical and Vocational Entrepreneur (Ustev) programme, and the Go Digital programme to assist graduates, school leavers, and businesses in starting and expanding their businesses.
“The Sarawak government has taken proactive measures to support our people and businesses, especially SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises).
“My ministry has implemented the Business Empowerment and Recovery Fund or known as BizFund, which is a grant provided by the Sarawak government to support our business community in capacity building and enterprise development.
“This grant addresses the lack of funding of Sarawakian enterprises to develop and enhance the skill set required by their businesses,” he said during his speech at the Sarawak Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI) Chinese New Year Banquet Dinner-cum-Sarawak Entrepreneur of The Year (EOYS) 2023 event at Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here last night (Jan 24).
Awang Tengah, who is also Minister of International Trade, Industry, and Investment (Mintred) Sarawak, urged entrepreneurs to support sustainable transition initiatives that use Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles.
“With these new economic opportunities, Sarawak will continue to become an attractive and preferred investment destination.
“This positive investment climate is mainly contributed by political stability, as well as our government’s supportive, business-friendly, and responsive policies.
“As such, I would like to urge our SMEs to fully capitalise on these business opportunities as part of the supply chain to support both domestic and foreign investments in Sarawak,” he added.
The event was attended by various dignitaries and officials, including Sarawak Premier Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun Openg and SCCI president Datuk Abang Abdul Karim Tun Openg. — DayakDaily
