KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB Group, through its entities CIMB Bank Bhd and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, have entered into a strategic partnership with Credit Guarantee Corporation Malaysia Bhd (CGC) to provide small and medium enterprises (SMEs) access to RM2 billion in financing through CGC’s Portfolio Guarantee-i scheme.
CIMB Group and CGC in a joint statement said the financing scheme would see CIMB Bank and CIMB Islamic disburse up to RM2 billion through Portfolio Guarantee-i, an Islamic working capital financing where 70 per cent of the loan amount is guaranteed by CGC, without collateral.
“Financing amount is up to RM1 million per customer, with a maximum tenure of seven years,” they said.
Victor Lee Meng Teck, chief executive officer (CEO) of Group Commercial Banking, CIMB Group, said the group was pleased to partner with CGC in nation building as the SMEs are projected to contribute 41 per cent to Malaysia’s gross domestic product by 2020.
“CIMB is also committed to supporting the SME industry not only in Malaysia, but also across ASEAN, powered by CIMB’s 800 branches and 2,000 relationship managers.
“In line with Forward23, CIMB’s next mid-term growth plan, our refocused proposition includes an investment of more than RM300 million in the next five years to strengthen our end-to-end tech-driven SME banking solutions to help transform our customers’ business,” he said.
Meanwhile, CGC president and CEO Datuk Mohd Zamree Mohd Ishak said, “I am pleased to share that over the last six years, both CIMB and CGC have successfully launched 13 Portfolio Guarantee Schemes totalling RM1.4 billion, benefiting over 2,000 SMEs.”
CIMB Bank has disbursed a total of RM17.8 billion in 2016-2018 to support the growth of 17,000 local SMEs by providing working capital, asset financing and trade finance. - Bernama