KUANTAN: The Malaysian Technology Development Corporation has approved RM18 million in loans from the Halal Technology Development Fund (Halal Fund) to eight small and medium enterprises (SMEs) since it was set up last year, its chief executive officer, Datuk Norhalim Yunus said.
He said the SMEs received loans of between RM2 million and RM3 million to help them sharpen their expertise and capability in producing halal products or services.
“The allocation for the Halal Fund was increased from RM10 million last year to RM15 million this year. Until yesterday, we still have RM7 million to be approved.
“Due to rising demand for the Halal Fund, we hope that its allocation can be increased to RM20 million next year,” he told reporters after attending the one-day East Zone Road2Growth 2017 programme yesterday.
Over 200 entrepreneurs from the East Coast of the Peninsula attended the programme with the aim of enlightening them on MTDC’s programmes and services to improve their business with the use of technology.
Calling on more SME entrepreneurs involved in the halal industry to take advantage of the fund to expand the business globally, Norhalim said the scope of halal products was not only confined to final product, instead it encompassed the preparation of each ingredient used in its production, thus leading to a wider market.
Citing an example, he said Japan imposed very strict product standards on imported food and food products in the run-up to the Tokyo Olympics 2020 to cater to the needs of halal food and halal products.
“Hence, MTDC will assist entrepreneurs to adhere to the requirements. For this purpose, four halal centres have been set up at local universities, manned by officers who are proficient in Japanese language,” he said, adding that the centres also have officers who are conversant in Korean, Arabic and Indonesian languages.
Besides the Halal Fund, Norhalim said MTDC also manages five more funds, for which RM80 million have yet to be approved for this year and he called on entrepreneurs from the East Coast to capitalise on them.
“MTDC has scale down the awarding of grants directly to entrepreneurs as we want continuous interaction with them. Financing is now approved based on the level of development of each company.
“We are providing partial grants so that the companies involved can be monitored on an ongoing basis in order to boost their use of technology, as well as their expertise and ability to compete.
“This will also increase their commercial value and reliability to attract financing from financial institutions,” he said. — Bernama