SME Bank empowers over 5,730 entrepreneurs in first six months of 2025
This is more than double the 2,225 entrepreneurs supported during the same period in 2024.
Acting president and chief executive officer Datuk Dr Mohammad Hardee Ibrahim said the achievement was supported by the bank's capacity building and training arm the Centre for Entrepreneur Development and Research (CEDAR).
Among the beyond financing programmes entrusted to SME Bank is the Maju Usahawan Madani programme, which was introduced to strengthen the MSME ecosystem through targeted capacity-building, he said in a statement.
Mohammad Hardee said between January 2025 and March 2026, the programme aims to assist 3,000 micro entrepreneurs.
As of June, a total of 1,632 entrepreneurs benefited from the initiative, including MSMEs from the Bumiputera community, youth, rural areas, B40 income group, Asnaf, senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
CEDAR has also been appointed Asean's Centre of Excellence for MSMEs in Green Transition, a recognition listed among the Priority Economic Deliverables for Malaysia's Asean chairmanship in 2025.
"This milestone affirms SME Bank's leadership in shaping a more sustainable and inclusive future for enterprises, both at home and across Asean," he said.
Meanwhile, the Halal Entrepreneurship Development Programme has supported over 400 participants since its launch in 2023, while the Program Pembangunan Kapasiti Vendor has onboarded 109 vendors with RM15.87 million incentives approved.
The Business Exports Programme has facilitated RM191.93 million in export sales through the onboarding of 98 companies across key global markets.
The programme is a structured intervention programme funded by the Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry and in collaboration with the Malaysia External Trade Development Corp.
The programme has also generated 182 new jobs, enabled 314 entrepreneurs to adopt new technologies and facilitated the creation of 224 business networks.
SME Bank said it will continue to play a pivotal role in advancing the MSME agenda with over RM1 billion strategic initiatives mandated to the bank under the National Budget 2025.
This includes delivering both financing and beyond financing support across key strategic sectors such as Bumiputera entrepreneurship, technology and innovation, ESG adoption, the halal economy and tourism.
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