GEORGE TOWN, June 30 — The National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (Tekun Nasional) will soon increase the maximum loan amount for G1 contractors from RM100,000 to RM200,000 through the "Kontrak-I” scheme.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar said the effort to increase the loan amount was to help G1 contractors face issues such as the rising prices of certain goods.

"Because the prices of goods are rising now, the loan amount of RM100,000 through the scheme is not enough, moreover, G1 contractors receive contracts worth RM200,000, so we think the loan amount needs to be increased to help them.

"In principle, the increase in the loan amount to RM200,000 has been passed, and now we only need to get the approval from the Minister of Finance, and I will have a discussion for it to be expedited,” he told reporters here today.

He added that there would be no issue with the disbursement of loans as they would be made from Tekun Nasional’s internal funds and not from government allocations and that the repayment rate from G1 contractors was also quite positive.

Noh was met after officiating the closing ceremony of the Contractor Capacity Development Seminar on Painting and Architectural Coatings organised by the Contractor Service Centre at the Double Tree Hotel here today.

Commenting further, Noh said in the first six months of the year, Tekun Nasional had provided loans through the Kontrak-I scheme to 100,657 G1 contractors involving a total cost of RM111 million.

He said there were currently 45,000 G1 contractors, most of whom were expecting projects from the government involving supplies and construction and he hoped they would continue to remain competitive moving forward.

"The large number of loans given by Tekun Nasional shows that the construction field is progressing well and we hope that in the phase towards endemicity, more projects will come,” he said. — Bernama