by BERNAMA/ pic by BERNAMA

THE government has approved financing totalling RM20.17 million in less than a month to TEKUN Nasional through the TEKUN Business Recovery Scheme (TBRS) to help micro-entrepreneurs affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Deputy Minister, Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin said since TBRS was launched on July 13, the ministry had received 6,454 applications from across the country for funding amounting to RM58.08 million.

“For this scheme, the government has allocated a RM100 million and as at Aug 3, 2,774 applications from entrepreneurs had been approved involving a financing sum of RM20.17 million.”

She said this to reporters after handing over a mock cheque for RM100,000 in TEKUN financing to Keropok House owner, Meriam Mohd, 55, at the Padang Badang Market, Jalan Pantai Cahaya Bulan, here, today.

Mas Ermieyati said TBRS under the National Economic Recovery Plan (PENJANA) offered micro-financing of up to RM10,000 at an interest rate of 3.5 per cent per year.

She said a total of 623 applications with RM5.101 million in financing were received in Kelantan.

“The government really wants to help fast, entrepreneurs who are affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, the approval process has been relaxed with only seven days needed and we also require only six documents compared to 17 previously,” she added.

Mas Ermieyati said to date, 80,275 or 58.55 per cent of entrepreneurs in the country were impacted by the pandemic and from the figure, 8.5 per cent had closed down their business.

“Meanwhile, with the various assistance and incentives announced by the government to help micro-entrepreneurs, we find that many of them have been able to survive until today.

“However, we are concerned with the ‘informal’ entrepreneurs who are not registered with the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) and others. If they have registered with SSM or the local authorities, they will be eligible to get assistance through TBRS,” she added.

The deputy minister also urged micro-entrepreneurs to venture into online business to stay relevant, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.