KUALA LUMPUR: A total of 3,263 Indian women entrepreneurs have received financing amounting to RM30.34 million under the Prosperity, Empowerment and A New Normal for Indian Women (PENN) programme to enhance local market access as of November.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, Deputy Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperatives Datuk Seri R. Ramanan stated that, under the SPUMI (Indian Community Entrepreneur Development Scheme) Goes Big programme, 77 Indian women entrepreneurs were granted financing totalling RM3.1 million. This initiative aims to boost their participation in the local economy.

Moreover, the I-BAP (Business Accelerator Programme for Indian Small Business) is designed to improve international market access. SME Corp has approved matching grants of RM1.5 million for 20 Indian community-owned companies. Among these, six Indian women entrepreneurs received matching grants of RM350,000.

As of November, 430 entrepreneurs have received financing approval under BRIEF-i (Bank Rakyat Indian
Entrepreneur Financing-i) from Bank Rakyat, amounting to RM38.98 million. Of this, RM8.14 million was specifically allocated to 145 Indian women entrepreneurs.

Ramanan was responding to a question from Senator Datuk Seri S. Vell Paari regarding government incentives to assist micro-entrepreneurs, particularly Indian women, in accessing both local and international markets.

To support small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in expanding their market access abroad, Ramanan mentioned that the SME Corp’s SMEs Export Enhancement Programme is being implemented without racial restrictions. Between January and October, 114 entrepreneurs benefited from the programme, with nine receiving grant approvals totalling RM1.29 million. An additional 105 entrepreneurs participated in training and business clinics to prepare for export opportunities.