February 15 2006

Perbadanan Usahawan Nasional Bhd (PUNB) is setting up a RM40 million wholesale financing scheme to assist Bumiputera entrepreneurs in venturing into the wholesale business.

Chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Nasir Ahmad said the new scheme aims to increase Bumiputera participation in the industry, which is still lacking at the moment.

He said companies applying for the loans are allowed to have a non-Bumiputera partner with a stake of up to 30 per cent. The loans range from RM250,000 to RM5 million.

"We hope this new scheme would be able to emulate the success of PROSPER scheme, which has helped increase Bumiputera participation in retail industry.

"Wholesale is another lucrative industry that Bumiputeras should tap into," he told a press conference after the opening of PUNB National Entrepreneur Networking 2006 in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

The new wholesale scheme is part of a RM125 million allocation PUNB had asked from the Government to fund various projects this year.

Of the entire fund, RM30 million will be distributed to the small- and medium-scale enterprises.