CIMB enhances its GreenBizReady proposition with RM3bil to help SMEs

Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change NIk Nazmi Nik Ahmad (fourth from left) at the launch of CIMB’s Sustainability-Linked Financing for SMEs. Also in attendance were (from left) CIMB Group deputy CEO, group commercial banking, Ahmad Shazli Kamarulzaman; group chief sustainability officer Luanne Sieh; group CEO Datuk Abdul Rahman Ahmad; MGTC CEO Shamsul Bahar Mohd Nor; and senior director of operations Saiful Adib Abdul Munaff.

KUALA LUMPUR: CIMB has inked a memorandum of cooperation (MoC) with the Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) to explore opportunities to drive sustainability adoption among SMEs via a sustainability-linked financing programme.

The programme is the latest extension of CIMB’s award-winning GreenBizReady proposition launched in 2021 as a one-stop sustainability solution for SMEs.

In a statement today, the group said CIMB Bank Bhd and CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd have enhanced their GreenBizReady proposition with a RM3 billion allocation through 2030 via the programme and that the group is the first bank to offer a complete value proposition for SMEs to tap into sustainability-linked financing opportunities, including simple tools for measurement and verification.

"The programme aims to incentivise SMEs to achieve credible greenhouse gas emission reduction targets through attractive financing rebates of up to 0.50 per cent per annum as they secure financing to meet their capital or expansion needs.

"Once sustainability performance targets have been agreed with CIMB, SMEs only need to input data such as energy and fuel consumption into MGTC's low carbon operating system platform, a simple and user-friendly web-based tool," it said.

Additionally, by combining the sustainability-linked financing with Bank Negara Malaysia’s (BNM) low-carbon transition facility, SMEs will benefit from better financing rates, the statement said.

CIMB Group deputy chief executive officer for group commercial banking Ahmad Shazli Kamarulzaman said CIMB is committed to empowering SMEs to adopt sustainable practices in line with Malaysia’s net zero ambitions and the group’s target to achieve net zero GHG emissions by 2050.

"We are pleased to build on our cooperation with MGTC, an existing key partner under our GreenBizReady proposition, to catalyse sustainable practices among SMEs.

"This will help them to remain competitive and resilient regionally and globally, and at the same time encourage their participation and contributions to the country’s green transition as part of the recently announced National Energy Transition Roadmap," said Ahmad Shazli. - Bernama