These days, entrepreneurship is highly coveted and can be seen as a rewarding experience (Image source: Pixabay)
Before, entrepreneurship was regarded as risky but now, it is highly coveted and viewed as an opportunity to be creative and innovative, providing a rewarding experience to those who want to run their own business.
These days, people at a very young age are being encouraged to become entrepreneurs when they grow up.
This is evident as some higher education institutions in Malaysia are offering entrepreneurship as a compulsory course, resulting in a rising trend of youths venturing into the field.
This trend is no exception to Sarawak as we are seeing more young entrepreneurs operating their business and generating revenue, especially via online.
Many has come to realise that entrepreneurship is highly responsive to changing economic opportunities and trends immensely, helping to create jobs, increase innovation and raise competition.
However, while we acknowledge the benefits presented in venturing into entrepreneurship, many new entrepreneurs, especially young ones, are still struggling in terms of securing capital needed to jump-start their business.
To address this challenge, the Sarawak Government introduced the Small and Medium Industry Financing Scheme or Skim Pinjaman Industri Kecil dan Sederhana (SPIKS) in early 2020 with the aim of helping struggling businesses and alleviating their burden.
It is a soft loan scheme that provides financing for valid bumiputera Sarawak small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in manufacturing, services and ICT sectors for the purpose of working capital, renovation of business premise and purchase of machinery and equipment.
Details of the loan scheme are as follow:
- Eligibility
- Bumiputera entrepreneurs with valid business licence registered with Registrar of Business/Registrar of Company (ROB/ROC)
- Malaysian citizens aged 21 years and above
- Have a proper and formal place of business (especially in major towns)
- Fully involved in business
- At least have one (1) year of experience in managing the business
- Involved in the manufacturing/processing, services and ICT sectors
- Purpose of Loan
- Working capital
- Renovation of existing business premise
- Purchase of machinery/business equipment
- Guarantors
- Two (2) persons with a fixed monthly income of RM800 and above
- For private limited company (Sdn Bhd), the Board of Directors will automatically be the guarantors
- No double and cross guarantee are allowed
- Screening Procedure
- Application form must be filled, signed and stamped (company) and supported with:
- A copy of identity card (applicant, partners & guarantors)
- A copy of company trade licence, share certificates
- Form 24, 49 and Memorandum of Association must be filled for private limited company (Sdn Bhd)
- A copy of financial statement which include Profit and Loss, Cash Flow, and Balance Sheet
- A copy of company bank statement for the past six (6) months
- A copy of tenancy agreement/Sale and Purchase Agreement
- A copy of Director’s Resolution for private limited company (Sdn Bhd)
- A copy of pay slip of guarantors
- Form J/EC must be filled by guarantors
- A copy of quotations (equipment/renovation purpose)
- Other supporting documents (contract, offer/agreement, etc.)
- A copy of utility bills (for applicant’s home address)
- A copy of business plan/company profile
(Source: Sarawak Economic Development Corporation)
SPIKS offers credit or loan limit of between RM6,000 and RM250,000 with a service charge of four per cent per annum.
The loan disbursement is made by the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC), which must be approved by the SPIKS Committee.
The tenure of the SPIKS loan is up to seven years (depending on the Committee’s decision) and the repayment of is on a monthly basis.
As of 2021, it was announced that SPIKS received additional allocation of RM20 million to assist bumiputera entrepreneurs in terms of working capital and purchase of machinery or equipment.
In Sarawak, youths are encouraged to take up entrepreneurship as a means of generating their income and improving their socio-economic well-being.
Aside from the introduction of SPIKS, the State has also offered courses in various institutions such as Centre of Technical Excellence (CENTEXS) and community colleges as a way of gaining skills needed to start their business.
As a scheme that is designed to assist SMEs in Sarawak, SPIKS has helped to open various doors of opportunities to the entrepreneurship scene in Sarawak.
For those interested, application forms can be downloaded by visiting https://mintred.sarawak.gov.my/page-0-0-156-SPIKS-Form.html, or https://www.sedc.com.my/images/ecd/BORANG%20SPIKS%20.pdf.
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