KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 12 — HSBC Malaysia has launched a RM500 million HSBC New Economy Fund to enable high-growth, new economy businesses across Malaysia to access funding to scale up.

In a statement, the bank said the fund will primarily support lending to tech-led businesses and emerging startups of a certain level to tap opportunities within Malaysia’s growing digital economy.

HSBC will continue to offer working capital, treasury management and payments and cash management solutions to meet the needs of these businesses at different stages of their lifecycle.

"Malaysia is putting itself at the forefront of Asean’s thriving startup ecosystem with an emphasis on developing the country as a hub for high-performing businesses in the region,” HSBC Malaysia chief executive officer Datuk Omar Siddiq said.

"We are positive about the new economy in South and Southeast Asia and as a group, we are doubling down on our support for new economy players. We have invested US$2 billion (RM9.3 billion) globally into commercial banking to improve our digital capabilities and to develop more solutions to support our clients.”

The development of Malaysia’s startup ecosystem is one of the country’s long-term objectives.

The bank said the various government initiatives under the Madani framework, the New Industrial Master Plan 2030 and the Malaysia Startup Ecosystem Roadmap (SUPER) 2021-2030) underscore the government’s commitment to bolster the development of startups and emphasise making Malaysia a digital country.

This includes providing funding, digitalisation grants and having capacity-building programmes to elevate Malaysian startups globally, it added. — Bernama