Kuala Lumpur, Feb 14 (Bernama) -- Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB) has set aside an allocation of RM40 million to introduce a wholesalers' scheme in its efforts to encourage Bumiputera entrepreneurs to become wholesalers, its chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Nasir Ahmad said Tuesday.

The new scheme will provide opportunities to Bumiputeras to be involved in wholesaling as there are not many of them in the sector as compared to the retail sector, he told reporters after the official opening of the PUNB National Entrepreneur Networking, here.

He said financing is between RM250,000 and RM5.0 million and they are allowed to have a non-bumiputera partner with a stake of up to 30 percent.

Mohd Nasir also said that PUNB has asked the government for an allocation of RM125 million for its various schemes to be implemented in 2006, of which RM30 million is for the small and medium enterprise (SME), RM50 million for the PROSPER (entrepreneur project in the retail sector), RM5.0 million for the graduates' scheme while the rest for the wholesalers' scheme.

Meanwhile, PUNB chairman Tan Sri Mohd Abu Bakar Mohd Noor said since PUNB was formed in 1993, the corporation has developed 98 Bumiputera companies in the SME sector and set up 360 Bumiputera entrepreneurs with an investment of RM350 million.

PROSPER, which was launched end of 2000, has produced 2,000 entrepreneurs in 902 retail business projects involving a cost of RM238 million and PUNB's investment value of RM114 million.

-- BERNAMA