Sabah entrepreneurs receive over RM92 million funding

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Azizah (third right) officiating the launch of the Peace of Mind 4.0 Program and the Sabah MARA Entrepreneur Appreciation Ceremony 2022 at MRSM Sandakan.


SANDAKAN (May 24): More than RM92 million in funding has been allocated for entrepreneurs in Sabah since the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 until April this year.

Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) chairperson Datuk Azizah Mohd Dun said various efforts have been made to help increase the productivity of entrepreneurs in the state to encourage them to be more competitive in line with current economic pressures.

“The effort is not from training and skills but also in the form of an injection of funds.

“In fact, since the country was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 until April this year, more than RM92 million in funding has been allocated for the state’s entrepreneurs,” she said.

Azizah added that the allocation through the Mara Prihatin: Peace of Mind 4.0 Program, aims to ease the burden of MARA education and business financing borrowers, especially those affected by the epidemic.

According to her, the program provides facilities to borrowers to improve their loan credit by rescheduling repayments, especially for borrowers who have high repayment arrears.

“Three initiatives for education borrowers are the rescheduling of lower loan repayments of RM100 per month for a year.

“The second is the application to reduce the repayment of MARA education loans to those who are eligible and the third is the alternative of repayment of education loans through the EPF e-withdrawal,” she said.

Azizah urged MARA borrowers not to miss out on the facilities implemented by the agency to ease the financial burden faced following the Covid-19 pandemic.

She said this while speaking at the launch of the Peace of Mind 4.0 Program and the Sabah MARA 2022 Entrepreneur Appreciation Ceremony here on Monday.

According to Azizah, for MARA business financing borrowers, the agency provides Credit Recovery Program facilities through the method of scheduling and restructuring repayments or R&R (Rescheduling & Restructuring).

“This facility gives customers a second chance to make payments by extending the fee period up to 10 years.
“Rescheduling means re-arranging their repayment of monthly financing installments within a certain period set by MARA up to 36 months.

“Restructuring means the restructuring of financing repayments that have been terminated due to default or expiration of the agreement,” she said.

The Beaufort MP hopes the initiative will help borrowers reduce their installment payment commitments in order to improve their company’s financial position.

“In fact, through this initiative, they have the opportunity to postpone the legal action that should be imposed on borrowers as well as give a second chance to improve the credit rating position with MARA,” she explained.