KUALA LUMPUR, April 24 — Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF), an agency under the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (Miti), has disbursed RM58.91 million to 17 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the first quarter (1Q) of 2024 for automation and modernisation.

The total allocation for the soft loan is RM150 million for 30 companies in the manufacturing and manufacturing-related services sector, Miti Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said today.

Additionally, there are matching grants available for Bumiputera aerospace SMEs.

"The target is 30 companies with a total allocation of RM150 million. As of 1Q this year, RM8 million has been disbursed to five SMEs,” he said during a press conference on Miti’s 1Q report card today.

As for the Industry4WRD Intervention Fund (IIF), he noted that applications from 401 Malaysian SMEs were approved, with a total grant value of RM149.1 million, as of March 31, 2024.

The IIF serves as a financial support facility for Malaysian SMEs in the manufacturing and related services sectors to adopt Industry 4.0 technologies.

The top three approvals were for food manufacturing (78 SMEs), plastic products (51), and machinery and equipment (40).

In terms of states, the top three were Selangor, Johor, and Penang with 165, 70, and 53 SMEs, respectively.

Tengku Zafrul also highlighted that Miti assists SMEs on their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) journey through a self-assessment mechanism.

To date, 702 out of the targeted 1,000 companies for 2024 have received assistance. — Bernama