Sulaiman Mohd Tahir

KUALA LUMPUR, April 18 (Bernama) -- AmBank (M) Bhd and Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC)  have launched a RM30 million shariah-compliant financing for startups and an additional RM500 million Portfolio Guarantee tranche to support the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Ambank group chief executive officer Datuk Sulaiman Mohd Tahir said CGC would guarantee 70 per cent of the financing called SME Biz Start Up-i which offers financing of between RM30,000 and RM300,000 to qualified SMEs.

Meanwhile, the Portfolio Guarantee tranche with financing ranging from RM100,000 to RM1 million is extended to SMEs with three years of track record.

He said for AmBank, SME Biz Start Up-i is the first financing package offered to start-ups.

"We find that SMEs with more than three years of track record have (better) access to financing, but those below three years have difficulty in terms ability to raise funding," he told a press conference after the launch of the Portfolio Guarantee tranche here today.

Sulaiman said AmBank aims to support SMEs from cradle to the Initial Public Offering (IPO).

Meanwhile, CGC chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak said the 2018's RM500 million Portfolio Guarantee tranche introduced via AmBank was almost fully subscribed, benefiting more than 600 SMEs.

"We expect the same performance for the additional RM500 million Portfolio Guarantee tranche launched today, if not better," Mohd Zamree said.

He said for 2019, CGC targets to guarantee RM4.6 billion in financing, of which it has committed to guarantee RM1 billion financing year to date.

Since four years ago, AmBank and CGC have launched 15 Portfolio Guarantee tranche totaling RM2.88 billion to 2,700 SMEs.

-- BERNAMA