KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 1 (Bernama) -- CIMB Group Holdings Bhd has launched a financing facility for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to buy and install equipment related to renewable energy technologies. 

Group chief executive officer Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Aziz said the facility, which has no size limit, is part of the bank's recently-issued US$680 million (RM2.85 billion) Formosa & Reg S Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) bond.

The bond is issued to fund projects related to the United Nations' sustainable development goals. 

"We launching it now as part of our initiative to encourage companies to take the sustainability agenda seriously, as well as to make it more commercial for them.

"It is a 100 per cent facility and we will look at (the applications) on a case by case basis, as long they meet the requirements," he told reporters on the sidelines of CIMB Cooler Earth Sustainability Summit here today.

The financing facility was launched in conjunction with the event. 

Meanwhile, Zafrul hoped the government could provide some tax incentives in the upcoming 2020 Budget, especially for companies contributing and raising finance towards sustainability initiatives.

"Any reduction (in tax) will encourage further investments in this sector.

"Like what we are doing, I hope other banks follow, as we try to lower the cost of borrowings when it comes to sustainability programmes," he said.

The 2020 Budget will be tabled in Parliament on Oct 11.

In a statement, CIMB Bank said it had allocated RM100 million for a Renewable Energy Financing programme.

One of the first initiatives under the programme is to provide smaller SMEs with 100 per cent financing to cover the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems and installation on rooftops.

The financing initiative offers packages from as low as RM20,000 and up to RM1 million, in support of the government’s Net Energy Metering (NEM) scheme.

However, SMEs need to first obtain the NEM approval from SEDA, to be eligible for CIMB’s Renewable Energy Financing. 

The financing initiative provides a practical solution to enable even the smaller and micro SMEs to purchase solar PV systems to save on their electricity bills, and contribute to planet earth’s well-being, said CIMB Bank. 

-- BERNAMA