KUALA LUMPUR: The National Entrepreneurial Group Economic Fund (TEKUN) has approved funding totaling RM3.34 billion to 206,174 entrepreneurs from 2020 to 2023, the Dewan Rakyat was told today.
Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Datuk R. Ramanan (pix) said the approval of the funding was made after screening 246,622 applications with a funding value of RM5.7 billion received by the agency during the period.
He said in line with efforts to help micro-entrepreneurs obtain the TEKUN financing scheme, the Ministry of Entrepreneurship and Cooperative Development (KUSKOP) through TEKUN Nasional has reduced the duration of financing approval and disbursement of financing as well as reducing the need for application documentation.
“Among them, the application documentation requirements are reduced from 17 documents to only four documents, namely a copy of the applicant’s identity card, a copy of the company register or permit, a photo of the business premises and a copy of the financial statement.
“In addition, the funding approval period was also reduced to seven working days compared to 21 working days while allocation distribution was carried out within three working days,“ he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat.
He was replying to a question by Datuk Muslimin Yahaya (PN-Sungai Besar) who wanted to know the statistics of the number of loan applications under TEKUN from 2020 to 2023 and the number of applications that have been approved as well as the loan application conditions.
Commenting further, Ramanan said that among the requirements for TEKUN Nasional loans are bumiputera and Malaysian citizens (Indian community for the Indian Community Entrepreneur Development Scheme or SPUMI) and aged 18 to 65 years for the financing period to expire up to 65 years and not be a bankrupt.
Another condition, he said, is that the company must be 100 per cent owned by bumiputera and Malaysian citizens (a company 100 per cent owned by the Indian community for SPUMI) and have a specific business location or conduct business online.
Answering an additional question from Aminolhuda Hassan (PH-Sri Gading) regarding KUSKOP’s action to collect the debts of borrowers who have not cleared the payment, Ramanan said the government will implement rescheduling of overdue accounts and non-paid financing (NPF).
He said the government will also intensify legal action in addition to offering discounts to borrowers who make lump sum payments.
“Another effort is through collaboration with AKPK (Credit Counseling and Management Agency) with payments made through AKPK. We will also intensify collection from the (TEKUN Nasional) headquarters and branches,“ he said. -Bernama
