Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) is renting out vacant night market lots for as little as RM1 a day, with priority given to traders on the government’s hardcore poor list.
Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Seri Fadlun Mak Ujud said this was part of a wider push to reverse a post-Covid 19 pandemic drop in vendor numbers.
He said the nominal rate was meant to lower the barrier to entry for traders, especially those from poorer households.
“The rental rate we’re offering is very low, just RM1 a day.
“This is really to encourage and give them the opportunity to do business,” he told reporters at the Fiesta Pasar Malam Kuala Lumpur 2026 event launched by Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh.
DBKL is also expanding small traders’ access to formal financing, said Fadlun, adding that the initiative followed a Prime Minister’s Advisory Board report that most traders relied solely on personal savings for business operations, a finding also reflected in DBKL’s own study.
Fadlun said priority for the vacant lots would go to applicants on the Implementation Coordination Unit’s (ICU) hardcore poor database.
He said the number of registered night market traders had fallen from more than 23,000 before Covid-19, as vendors had depleted their savings during the pandemic.
To address this, DBKL brought in financing and microcredit agencies including Agrobank, CIMB, Bank Rakyat, Bank Simpanan Nasional, SME Bank, Tekun Nasional, Mara, AmBank, Amanah Ikhtiar Malaysia and Credit Counselling and Debt Management Agency (AKPK) to the event at the Kuala Lumpur Football Stadium carpark in Jalan Yaacob Latif.
Fadlun said terms varied across institutions, citing Amanah Ikhtiar’s entry-level loans of RM5,000 and Mara’s larger facilities, which could extend up to RM250,000.
Other DBKL initiatives include 50% rental cut at its hawker centres, reduced traffic compound payments and free typhoid jabs for food handlers.
About 90 traders from 65 locations, including food trucks, took part in the one-day event, conducting business on-site while learning how to apply for financing. Of these, 12 were asnaf (hardcore poor) traders participating for the first time.
The event also opened up about 3,000 vacant lots for on-the-spot applications, with same-day approvals for those who qualify.
Fadlun added that two locations had been fully taken up.
Yeoh said the initiative stemmed from a study showing that many traders were unaware of financing facilities under other ministries, including the Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Ministry.
She said the programme served three purposes – prioritising e-Kasih traders, reviving night markets and connecting targeted groups to available facilities.
“If they don’t know about it, they might feel there’s no help from the government,” she said while urging eligible traders to apply directly through DBKL rather than use agents.
Fadlun also said DBKL would bring partner agencies to future engagements, with similar carnivals possible elsewhere depending on response.
The event saw 1,500 shopping vouchers worth RM35,000 handed out, while other activities included a colouring contest, cooking competition and RM5 Menu Rahmah meals from 104 traders, under DBKL’s Lestari Niaga@KL initiative.
