KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 21 — AmBank Group and Sabah Development Bank Bhd (SDB) is offering RM100 million worth of financing to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Sabah weather the financial impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The initiative is part of the Sabah SME Guarantee Scheme, a financing facility, designed with the primary objective of providing working capital, exclusively for SMEs in the state.
AmBank group chief executive officer (CEO) Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said the facility will be made available in the first quarter of 2021, on a first come, first served basis.
AmBank will be providing the funding, while SDB will guarantee a certain amount of the financing issued.
“This strategic partnership between AmBank and SDB reaffirms our shared commitment to nurture and promote the growth of SMEs,” he told reporters during the virtual signing ceremony today.
SDB CEO Datuk Vincent Pung said the launch of this facility is timely to complement the federal and state governments’ initiatives to support a very important sector of the economy.
“With SDB acting as the guarantor, this will facilitate and ease Sabah SMEs’ access to financing.
“This not only help to sustain the SMEs who are facing challenges in managing their working capital, but also for those SMEs who are tapping into opportunities to grow during this pandemic,” he said.
Pung said SMEs play an essential part in the socio-economic development of the country, in terms of gross domestic product contribution, as well as job creation, and to help keep the supply chain going, be it in food production, services, manufacturing, and others.
AmBank has reached out to 130,000 individual and business customers, offering RM17 billion worth of relief and financial assistance.
About RM2 billion of financing were approved for 2,000 SMEs under the Special Relief Facility and Penjana SME Financing, among others. — Bernama
