SHAH ALAM – The Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry has allocated RM50 million through Perbadanan Nasional Bhd (Pernas) this year to provide financing to assist franchise entrepreneurs, said its minister Datuk Ewon Benedick.
He said the allocation covers franchise/franchisor financing schemes; pre-franchise/pre-franchisor financing schemes; pre-franchise (licensor/licensee) financing schemes; BIT pre-franchisor/pre-franchisee financing schemes; and recurve schemes.
“Up to December 31, 2022, RM299 million in franchise financing was provided to 1,859 franchise entrepreneurs through various financing schemes.
“As an agency under the ministry, Pernas has a role in the development of franchise entrepreneurs. It also provides various assistance and support to entrepreneurs, including financing facilities, training, and giving micro, small and medium enterprise entrepreneurs opportunities to explore the franchising field,” he said.
He said this in his address when officiating the Business in Transformation Expo 2023 (BITe) at Setia City Convention Centre, Setia Alam here today. Also present were Deputy Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Minister K. Saraswathy, Entrepreneur and Cooperatives Development Ministry Secretary-General Datuk Seri Suriani Ahmad, and Pernas chairman Datuk Hazimah Zainuddin.
Ewon said the two-day BITe 2023 expo would encourage the participation of new entrepreneurs and also enable micro and small entrepreneurs to introduce their business models and expand their brands.
The BIT programme would also help micro and small entrepreneurs do business more competitively and efficiently, he said.
He said Pernas had approved financing totalling RM9.9 million to 313 BIT entrepreneurs as at December 31, 2022.
“The BIT Pre-Franchisee Financing package has been improved, with a financing facility of up to RM50,000 to provide potential entrepreneurs opportunities for better business concepts. This improvement has given many micro and small traders opportunities to expand their businesses by setting up more outlets,” he said.
Meanwhile, Hazimah said Pernas has targeted to develop 24 pre-franchisors and 240 pre-franchisees this year among BIT entrepreneurs, in an effort to further grow the number of entrepreneurs and local franchise brands.
“What (we) can be proud of is that the participation of micro entrepreneurs in the BIT programme has produced some 1,400 pre-franchisees and created over 2,800 new job opportunities,” she said. – Bernama, March 4, 2023
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