THE Sarawak government will be giving rental exemption packages to various types of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for six months starting July in a bid to reduce the operational costs of SMEs affected by the Covid-19 outbreak, deputy chief minister Awang Tengah Ali Hassan said.

This includes an exemption of RM123,750 under the Sayang Sarawakku Special Aid package to SMEs operating at 15 ready-built factories at the Demak Baru Industrial Park Phase 3 in Kuching.

Several other rental exemption and partial waiver packages, which is set to last until December 31, 2021, will also apply to SMEs operating out of premises owned by government-linked companies and hawkers.

“The state government also gives a rental payment exemption amounting to RM2 million until December 31, 2021 to the SMEs operating at the business premises owned by the state’s statutory bodies and government-linked companies,” he said at a news conference today.

“A rental discount of 50% is also given to 3,200 tenants at the Sarawak Housing Development Corporation schemes and 10,000 registered hawkers renting the market and food stalls under the local authorities until December 31, 2021.

“Besides that, a discount of up to 25% is given for the water and electricity bills and 30% discount on the quit rent and assessment rates so as to lessen the people’s burden including that of entrepreneurs and all these forms of aid are being implemented until Dec 31, 2021,” he added.
 
Awang Tengah, who is also Sarawak Minister of International Trade and Industry, Industrial Terminal and Entrepreneur Development, said an additional allocation of RM10 million had been approved by the state government for grants under the Graduates towards Entrepreneurship (Gerak) Programme and the Technical and the Vocational Entrepreneurs (USTEV) Programme.

“Up to August, 264 of the 525 applications for the Gerak programme were approved with grants worth RM3.34 million, while 388 of the 596 applications for the USTEV programme were also approved with grants amounting to RM4.42 million,” he added.

Awang Tengah said his ministry has also given RM48 million in aid to 1,463 successful applicants under the Sarawak Micro Credit Scheme, which seeks to benefit entrepreneurs in the B40 group, as well as micro enterprise operators.

He added that loans amounting to RM30.13 million were also granted to 411 approved applicants under the Medium and Small Industry Loan Scheme for Bumiputera SMEs. – Bernama, September 7, 2021.