Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia has launched a low-interest financing package worth 5 billion MYR (1.3 billion USD) to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) weather current challenges and move into higher value-added sectors such as technology, green projects, automation, and tourism.
The financing, priced at interest rates of between 3% and 5%, will be distributed through licensed banks, prescribed financial institutions and development finance institutions, including Bank Rakyat and SME Bank, Minister of Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Steven Sim Chee Keong said at the launch of the “Heritage Brands of Penang” publication in Penang.
The latest funding forms part of the government’s broader PowerUp10K campaign, a year-long initiative aimed at strengthening SMEs at different stages of growth. Under the programme, the ministry is targeting total disbursements of up to 15 billion MYR in low-cost financing, higher than the previously allocated 10 billion MYR.
Sim said the campaign aims to help 10,000 businesses scale up, while setting aside at least 100 million MYR for capability-building programmes expected to train as many as 100,000 entrepreneurs.
The government also wants to raise SME value-added contribution to more than 750 billion MYR and support 100 local companies in reaching 100 million MYR in revenue over the medium term.
He said SMEs, including heritage businesses, should make use of the financing facilities and other government-backed programmes to build resilience and expand over the long term. As of February 2026, around 2 billion MYR in financing had already been approved under the initiative, Sim said./.
